Sometimes in the midst of the dreadful news we read or hear each day, there are rays of hope that break through. A federal judge in Tennessee dismissed the fabricated criminal charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran who was granted a form of protection called withholding of removal in 2019 after a hearing by an immigration judge with a record of denying about 60% of the applications before him.
The feds dropped all criminal charges against a group of protestors stemming from their actions demonstrating against ICE at the Broadview Detention Center because it was clear that evidence presented to the grand jury was false and misleading, opening DOJ claims to sanctions against the prosecutors.
On a larger scale, federal judges have ruled against DOJ’s attempts to commandeer voter rolls in eight states. Maintaining voter records is required under statute, but the courts have declared that peering into how you or I vote is not. So, in spite of other horrendous news, we can take some pleasure in these victories which really protect all of us on this rainy Memorial Day weekend.
Prayer for the Day
God, who appears in the most unusual places, let us see your face,
For at times we feel lost and unsure of your presence;
God, who is present in a blade of grass or the bird soaring above us,
Let us find he extraordinary in what appears to be ordinary.
Open our spirits, O Lord, so we may discover your Spirit
Even where we least expect it.
In the name of the One who embodies your Spirit,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.
Vincent Van Gogh, artist (1853-1890)
The older I get, the more I’m conscious of ways that very small things can make a change in the world. Tiny little things, but the world is made up of small matters, isn’t it?
Sandra Cisneros, writer
It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.
Matthew 13:32