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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Another Blow to Asylum Seekers Comes – This Time from the Supreme Court

September 12, 2019, Washington, D.C. – The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) today is saddened that the Supreme Court chose to affirm a callous rule that will do nothing to help those seeking refuge at our borders. Jody Rabhan, NCJW Chief Policy Officer, issued the following statement:

“Those seeking safety in the US deserve, at the very least, our compassion. Asylum seekers — often women traveling alone or with their children — come to this country to escape extreme persecution. Yesterday, the Supreme Court affirmed yet another barrier to their ability to be safe — they will now be turned away by the US if they passed through another country on their way without first seeking asylum there. NCJW’s CEO Sheila Katz recently went to the southern border and met with women and their children hoping for asylum in the US after fleeing unspeakable violence in their home countries. What will happen to them now?

“Yesterday’s decision by the Court is devastating and upends decades of US asylum policy. Sadly, the violence and fear asylum seekers face at home will not stop because the US has closed its doors. In fact, with this decision, we are now complicit in certain horrors and even death they will face by being turned away.

“The National Council of Jewish Women has been present to not only welcome the stranger but to help them thrive, since our founding. Many Jews know what it means to leave all that you know and come to a strange land, hoping for safety for your children; and as Jews, we want all people to find the safe harbor that many of our relatives were denied.”

The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) is a grassroots organization of volunteers and advocates who turn progressive ideals into action. Inspired by Jewish values, NCJW strives for social justice by improving the quality of life for women, children, and families and by safeguarding individual rights and freedoms. More information on Facebook and Twitter.