More than 30 faith leaders from across North Texas met outside the Kessler Park United Methodist Church in Dallas on Monday afternoon.

The press conference was organized by Faith Commons, an interfaith organization founded in 2018 that promotes the “common good” by addressing issues that affect society and culture.

Monday’s press conference was to take a public stance on immigration and the removal process of migrants under the Trump Administration.

“People need to have the opportunity to defend themselves and to have a defense with a lawyer and in a court of law,” Dr. George Mason, founder of Faith Commons said. “But when you are (prematurely) convicted and claim to be called a criminal before you even have the opportunities to defend yourself, that’s just inexcusable in our country.”

Mason and those gathered in support called for the community and other leaders of faith to recognize that holding government leaders and immigration agencies accountable.

“Beyond the question of what is legal is the question of what is moral. And for us, that means treating every human being with absolute dignity and respect and recognizing that when our language dehumanizes people in various ways, it diminishes all us,” Mason said. “We want to elevate the language and the humanity of this conversation to begin with. Then we want to recognize that every person is owed due process in this country. And when people are being rounded up and deported without due process, that violates not only our American law, but also our spiritual values.”

According to Amreena Hussain, the vice president of the Indian American Muslims Council Dallas Chapter, people in her community have voiced fears of traveling.

”My husband is actually in India right now. His father has passed away and his travel has been a source of great anxiety for us,” Hussain said. “There’s also a deep fear about almost what it feels like, extra-judicial. Detentions at this point without due process, so there’s definitely that that we’re affected by.”

This comes as President Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order that is aimed to identify non-compliant cities and states. A list of sanctuary cities and states, according to the Trump administration, could be created within the month.

“To hear from those leaders saying that we as a church, or we as a mosque, or we at the temple have your back, and we’re ready to put in the fight for you, that means a lot to people,” Hussain said. “Part of being a person of faith is to not be quiet in times of injustice and that matters a lot.”

The group made reference to the migrants detained inside the ICE Bluebonnet Detention Facility in Anson, which currently houses Venezuelans at risk of deportation. The migrants, in many cases, have been flagged for their tattoos and accused of ties to the Tren de Aragua gang.

The facility is at the center of a Supreme Court ruling on deportation. Last Saturday, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked deportations of Venezuelans under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

“Let’s not just make them symbols of something. They matter as individuals,” Mason said. “And when people have been detained, and when we don’t know where they are, they have been disappeared, then we have to be relentless in demanding to know where they are. Because they matter to God and they matter to all of us in our communities.”

The interfaith leaders will meet again on Friday to determine dates for prayer vigils that are to be held outside of the Dallas ICE Office in an effort to push for the fair treatment of immigrants.

This team just finds way to win.

For the third straight game, the No. 1 Texas Longhorns were only separated from the Texas A&M Aggies by one run in a 6-5 comeback victory on Sunday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field to sweep the series for the fifth time in SEC play.

Moving to 19-2 in conference, the Longhorns have a five-game lead over the Razorbacks, next week’s opponent in Fayetteville, thanks to a go-ahead, wind-aided home run in the eighth inning by freshman left fielder Adrian Rodriguez.

With the wind blowing out of the south at 14 miles per hour, Rodriguez put the ball into the jet stream at 46 degrees off the bat and it cleared the 340-foot wall down the left-field line, traveling just 345 feet.

The big fly from Rodriguez capped a day of comebacks for Texas, which fell behind 2-0 in the first inning and 4-2 in the fourth inning.

Texas A&M jumped out to a quick lead by capitalizing on poor command from Texas freshman right-hander Jason Flores in his second weekend start. Flores has had trouble with hitting batters, entering the game with 11 on the season in 28.0 innings, but had only walked four. That streak ended on Sunday when Flores issued two one-out walks on only nine pitches.

The “dominate the zone” approach by Longhorns pitching coach Max Weiner was put into perspective when Flores allowed a double and a single as the Aggies took a 2-0 lead before Flores responded with two strikeouts.

The big freshman departed the game without recording an out in the second inning after two more walks on nine pitches, forcing senior right-hander Andre Duplantier into the game.

Duplantier escaped the jam and went on to throw 68 pitches over 5.2 innings, the longest outing and the most pitches Duplantier has thrown since an appearance against Sam Houston in 2022. The 6’2, 235-pounder allowed three runs on four hits, including a two-run double in the fourth inning and a game-tying home run in the seventh inning.

It wasn’t perfect, but the remarkable, lengthy performance by Duplantier not only kept the Longhorns in the game, it set up the bullpen to finish it.

Sophomore left-hander Ethan Walker made this third appearance of the year to retire left-handed batter Kaeden Kent to end the seventh, junior right-hander Grayson Saunier worked around two singles to open the eighth inning with some help from senior first baseman Kimble Schuessler, who fielded an attempted sacrifice bunt and cut down the lead runner at third. Saunier retired the next two batters to escape the jam.

More trouble awaited the Ole Miss transfer in the ninth in the form of a one-out single and a full-count walk that forced junior right-hander Max Grubbs into the game to save it. Schuessler again played a big role defensively, starting a 3-6-1 double play that ended the game as Grubbs recorded his fifth save of the season.

Rodriguez was a catalyzing force at the bottom of the lineup for the Longhorns, going 3-for-3 with a double in addition to his home run, three RBI, two runs, and a walk.

The double by the former A&M signee scored the first run for Texas in the bottom of the third before sophomore designated hitter Ethan Mendoza drove in Rodriguez with a sacrifice fly.

In the sixth, Schuessler scored on a wild pitch and junior catcher Rylan Galvan drove in two more runs with a single to center field to beat a shift.

Galvan finished 2-for-4 with the two RBI and a walk.

The four-game homestand for Texas ends on Tuesday against Prairie View A&M.