TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Honduras President Xiomara Castro and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem discussed immigration and border security in their first meeting Wednesday, after Castro had previously rejected President Donald Trump’s calls for ramped up deportations. Noem was the first Trump Cabinet member to visit Honduras. |
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.
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 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.
“Ruth has dedicated her life to the defense of human rights and the fight against corruption,” Cristosal said in a statement last week. “Hers is not an isolated case: it is part of a pattern of criminalization against critical voices.”
As she entered the court for her initial hearing on June 4, Ruth said "'¡No me van a callar, un juicio público quiero!", ("they won't silence me; I want a public trial). She was remanded into pretrial custody for an additional six months. Read this update here: https://www.laprensagrafica.com/elsalvador/Ruth-Eleonora-Lopez-enfrenta-audiencia-inicial-por-enriquecimiento-ilicito-20250604-0022.html
As immigration detention capacity in Ohio has jumped from 120 to 1,500 in recent weeks, IRTF (InterReligious Task Force on Central America) hopes to increase the visibility of faith leaders and communities showing our collective support for vulnerable migrant* families.
To that end, we hope you can take 3 minutes to read the attached letter and offer your endorsement by May 27, 2025 to brian@irtfcleveland.org .
Appendices to the letter include statements on the rights of migrants (and biblical mandate to “welcome the stranger”) from Jewish, Muslim and Christian religious bodies. There is also a statement from Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb and a national interfaith coalition.
What will we do with the sign-on letter?
-make it public at a prayer vigil/press conference in mid-June (date/location to be determined)
-use it as a basis to build interfaith solidarity in defense of migrants over the next several months or more)
Please contact brian@irtfcleveland.org if you as a faith leader endorse the letter. If you endorse, please list your name with your title, congregation/organization, and city. Info: 216 961 0003
More than one hundred national, international, and solidarity organizations, with a presence in Canada, Europe, the United States, Mexico, Central America, and South America, signed an open letter addressed to the Attorney General's Office of the Republic of El Salvador to demand the immediate release of environmental lawyer Alejandro Henríquez and community leader Ángel Pérez, president of the El Bosque Agricultural Cooperative, who were arbitrarily detained on May 12 and 13, 2025.
In the letter, the organizations condemn the use of security forces to repress the families of the El Bosque community, who were exercising their legitimate right to peaceful protest due to a planned eviction, when they were dispersed by riot police, resulting in the arrest of Ángel Pérez and, subsequently, of lawyer Alejandro Henríquez, who was providing legal advice to the affected families.
Marco Rubio, Matt Gaetz and Donald Trump Jr. have made pilgrimage to El Salvador, and Republican commentator Tucker Carlson said Bukele “may have the blueprint for saving the world.”
The Garífuna, an Afro-Indigenous people with a profound historical and cultural presence in Honduras, continue to be targeted for defending their rights to territory, culture, and life. Despite legal victories, the Honduran government has failed to implement structural reforms or offer protection for these communities.
On April 10, the Garífuna community, which lives primarily along the Atlantic coast, led mobilization in the nation’s capial, Tegucigalpa. They demanded that the Honduran government comply with binding rulings issued by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (2015, 2023) in favor of three Garífuna communities in Colón (Punta Piedra) and Atlántida (Triunfo de la Cruz, San Juan).
Barely two days later, in the early morning hours of April 12, Max Gil Castillo Mejía, brother of the president of the community council of Punta Piedra was kidnapped from his home in San Pedro Sula (Cortés Department) by armed individuals who identified themselves as police officers. Just two days later, prominent Garífuna leader Miriam Miranda and other members of the Garífuna community of El Triunfo de la Cruz received threats.
Silencing Indigenous and Afro-descendant voices through fear and violence is a violation not only of human dignity but of binding international commitments. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has already warned that this violence will persist as long as the Honduran State refuses to uphold international legal mandates. IRTF calls on the government of Honduras to implement the rulings of the Inter-American Court to ensure that justice, reparations, and peace are no longer deferred for the Garífuna people.
Read IRTF’s recent letter demanding justice for Max Castillo here. To add your name to these urgent human rights letters, see https://www.irtfcleveland.org/content/RRN/join-RRN .
