Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
The Trump administration has vowed to step up enforcement against illegal immigration.
But some religious people might be standing its way.
Some are creating "safe houses" in Los Angeles for people living in the U.S. illegally, for example.
A network of different churches have banded together in Philadelphia, too, to practice ways to disrupt federal immigration officials.
Even one of the recent headlines at the National Catholic Reporter reads, "Three ways to resist the Trump administration's deportation orders."
"People of faith and no faith are rising up to oppose these deportations," says Rabbi Sharon Brous, founder of IKAR, a Jewish community resource in Los Angeles. "There are 36 times the Torah says we need to treat the ger – the stranger, the other – with love."
"That is also in the Quran, to take care of strangers," adds Ani Zonneveld, founder and president of Muslims for Progressive Values. "It's about the moral justice about providing to someone who needs help."
Both say they are working to provide immigrants in need with food, clothing and even sanctuary.
"We see these deportations as un-American, immoral and inhuman," says Rabbi Brous. "I'll do whatever's in my power to protect and serve this community."
"It's a test for us. We are the privileged ones," says Zonneveld. "American Muslims are starting to speak up. It's not a Muslim issue. It's all of us together."
Listen to the whole interview by clicking the blue audio player above.