IRTF News

IRTF expresses deep gratitude to the staff of Trinity Cathedral (headquarters of the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio) for hosting us. Thank you to all who took an active role in the prayer service, which was attended by 115 people from Muslim, Jewish, and Christian congregations (and others not affiliated with any faith congregations). Our interfaith solidarity work continues.

The Rev. Canon Adrienne Koch, Diocesan Liturgist, welcome those gathered and offered the opening prayer: 

We are gathered for worship today in the name of God who takes care of every creature as a father and as a mother; Who is on the side of the weak and those who are treated without justice; Whose Spirit gives us the capacity to give solidarity to those who suffer and the power to resist all that threatens and destroys life. We believe that our help comes from God who made heaven and earth. For that we bless God’s name forever.

IRTF invites any/all faith congregations to use this prayer service as template for designing their own. 

On March 7 2025, thirteen national and international faith-based organizations from the Christian, Jewish, and Islamic traditions issued an “Interfaith Solidarity Statement on Refugees and Immigrants.”  That statement said, in part, “We stand united as people of faith in our commitments to welcome the stranger to care for the most vulnerable—commitments rooted in our common understanding of our Creator’s love for all and call to serve our neighbors.” 

The sacred writings of our world’s religions contain passages that address the issue of migrants (immigrants and refugees). They repeatedly instruct us to love our neighbor and show hospitality to the stranger.  In all of our traditions, walking with migrants is a matter of faithfulness.

In northeast Ohio, faith leaders from Islamic, Jewish, and Christian traditions have been signing onto an interfaith statement in support and defense of migrants. Faith leaders from any religious tradition are welcome to add their hame. Please contact brian@irtfcleveland.org or 216 961 0003. 

In April, immigration judges set two alarming records by closing over 11,000 asylum cases and denying 80% of them in a single month. An avalanche of asylum denials is just beginning.

By Melissa Berkey-Gerard

Bryan Stevenson says, “Everyone is more than the worst thing they’ve ever done.” Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, defends those who are unfairly imprisoned, especially those wrongfully condemned to death row in the US. He has dedicated his life to ending the injustice that is the death penalty. If we start with the belief that each person is deserving of grace and dignity, regardless of what they have done, we can imagine a different approach. A premise that people deserve a second chance, a real opportunity for transformation and restoration, healing from trauma and a way out of poverty. An outlook that recognizes that the current system both criminalizes poverty, and profits from incarceration. 

The undersigned concerned individuals, scholars, human rights organizations, environmental organizations, and representatives of the tourism sector in Rio Dulce are writing to express our serious concerns over mining activities planned to be carried out by the Canadian company Central America Nickel (CAN) via their subsidiaries Rio Nickel S.A. and Nichromet S.A in the Santa Cruz Mountains of Guatemala.

As you will see in the news articles and timeline below, opposition to mining in this region is vehement and virtually unanimous by Indigenous Q’eqchi’ Maya communities. Moreover, community members, tourism sector representatives, environmental experts, public health authorities, leading scholars, and human rights NGOs see any form of mining in the Santa Cruz Mountains as a fundamental threat to Indigenous sovereignty, to human rights, and to the local water supply.

The arrest of López, a prominent lawyer in El Salvador who helped uncover alleged government corruption, has become emblematic of the increasing authoritarianism of President Nayib Bukele.

The arrests are part of an escalating crackdown by Bukele on the last bastion of dissent in a country where he already controls all state institutions, analysts and activists say. López’s arrest and a new law targeting nongovernmental organizations have accelerated an exodus of civil society: In recent weeks, dozens of academics, lawyers, researchers, human rights defenders and journalists have fled the country.

Their departures resemble the flights of critics from autocratic regimes in Nicaragua and Venezuela, but with a key difference. This time, the United States isn’t condemning the repression — it’s deepening ties with its author.

The Trump administration, which is paying Bukele’s government to imprison migrants deported from the U.S., is praising his leadership and holding him up as a model for the region. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau traveled to El Salvador last week as part of his first foreign trip, the purpose of which was to “further strengthen diplomatic ties and cooperation.”

The need to challenge U.S. militarism has never been more urgent. Authoritarians rely on militarism to stoke fear, silence dissent, and concentrate control. Trump has done this expertly—treating both migrants and political opponents as security threats, all while pumping billions into a war machine that bankrupts our social safety net. He’s doubled down on military spending in preparation for the next war, reinforced border controls to keep out those fleeing conflict, and used fear to create a pervasive sense of insecurity in many people’s minds. 

“The Feminist Peace Playbook” charts a path to real security, which is grounded in human rights, collective care, and community safety.

Members of the LGBTIQ+ community are among the most vulnerable of all populations in the Americas. Often they must migrate due to persecution, further increasing their vulnerability because of the marginalization migrants frequently endure, especially if they are Black, Indigenous, or otherwise non-White.

States’ responses to LGBTIQ+ migrants are vastly deficient throughout the hemisphere, including in the United States. They constitute a growing human rights crisis and a major lost opportunity for progress and prosperity.