This week on Just Politics, Giovana Oaxaca, the senior government relations advocate for immigration with NETWORK, joins hosts Colin and Eilis to discuss the escalating immigration crisis facing communities nationwide.

This episode was recorded in the immediate aftermath of the budget reconciliation bill's passage, which Oaxaca calls a “deportation bill,” one that will also decimate the social safety net programs many people rely on.

The conversation tackles harsh realities, from detention camps in the Florida Everglades to terrorizing enforcement raids in Los Angeles. But Oaxaca also highlights stories of hope: organizers building solidarity in unlikely places, pastors providing sanctuary, and transformative conversations across political divides.

Inspired by Pope Leo XIV's call to be “leaven of unity in a fractured world,” Oaxaca challenges us to move beyond fear toward authentic engagement, emphasizing finding common ground through shared values of human dignity.

LINKS:

https://networklobby.org/issues/immigration/

https://networklobby.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/An-Economy-for-All-One-pager.pdf

This week on Just Politics, Rev. Dr. Cassandra Gould—political director at Faith in Action—joins us to talk about her journey from corporate America to the front lines of faith-based justice work.

Rooted in her family’s legacy of civil rights activism, Gould reflects on how her childhood in Alabama and Missouri shaped her understanding of racial injustice, poverty, and power. She shares how her experience in finance led her to see the devastating impact of deregulation and predatory lending on working-class communities and why she couldn’t stay silent.

In this conversation, she challenges faith leaders to “come off mute” and speak truth to power, moving beyond charity to working for real structural change. The hosts and Gould talk about grassroots organizing, how policy decisions affect people’s daily lives, and what it means to build spiritual practices that sustain long-term activism. The discussion concludes with a call to action for individuals disrupt the silence surrounding social injustices.

LINKS:

https://faithinaction.org/

https://www.networkadvocates.org/#!

This week on Just Politics, the hosts revisit a powerful conversation from last season that feels more urgent than ever. Kristen Whitney Daniels—a disability advocate, diabetes educator, and associate director of the U.S. Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph—joins us to talk about the moral and social consequences of stripping people of access to health care.

As budget negotiations in Washington put Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act on the chopping block, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that, by 2034, millions of people across the country risk losing the coverage that keeps them and their families secure. In this episode, Whitney Daniels shares her personal experience navigating a complicated health care system with chronic illness and reflects on why Catholics and other people of faith must demand a system rooted in dignity, justice, and the common good.

LINKS:

Report on how many people risk losing their health insurance under the budget reconciliation bill: https://ccf.georgetown.edu/2025/06/29/congressional-budget-office-confirms-senate-republican-reconciliation-bills-medicaid-cuts-are-more-draconian-than-the-house-passed-bill/

More on Kristen Whitney Daniels: https://cssjfed.org/about-us/staff-and-leadership/

NETWORK’s issue page on health care advocacy: https://www.networkadvocates.org/issues/health-care/