Dear President Trump:

As 88 organizations that represent millions of diverse American Jews across the country, we write in opposition to your Administration’s plans to launch mass deportations, build massive detention camps, and conduct sweeping raids. We urge you to chart a different course and change your stated plans for widespread persecution of immigrants.

America has long prided itself on being a place of refuge, a beacon of hope for those fleeing persecution and seeking a better life. Our nation’s diversity and its commitment to religious freedom have shaped the fabric of our society. Jewish families—past and present, here and elsewhere—know what it is to live in fear for the immediate and long-term safety of our families. We have been forced to flee, denied access to safety, scapegoated, detained, and exploited. This history and our Jewish values make immigration policy – including ensuring a functioning and welcoming refugee program and protection of the right to seek asylum – deeply personal to the Jewish community.

During times of uncertainty and vulnerability, the places where people most often turn are our religious institutions. Proposed changes to the immigration policy, including allowing immigration authorities to enter sacred spaces, only serve to exacerbate feelings of fear, panic, and insecurity. People should be able to come together in peace and worship without fear of deportation, detention, or harassment. Please do not enact policies that would turn places of solace into places of fear. Let us work together to create a nation that continues to embrace religious freedom and demonstrates compassion for those who seek refuge.

Immigrants are beloved members of our communities and essential parts of our country. Again, we urge you not to tear our communities apart, we urge you not to implement your plans to enact mass deportations.

Sincerely,
National Organizations:
ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal
Avodah
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action
Habonim Dror North America
HIAS
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Jewish Women International
J Street
Keshet

Kirva
L”chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty
National Council of Jewish Women
Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies
OHALAH: The Association of Rabbis and Cantors for Jewish Renewal
Rabbinical Assembly
Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association
Society for Humanistic Judaism
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
The Shalom Center
The Workers Circle
Union for Reform Judaism
Uri L’Tzedek

Local and Regional Organizations:
Adas Israel Congregation, Washington, DC
Am Kolel Jewish Renewal Community of Greater Washington, DC
Arizona Jews for Justice
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, Pittsburgh
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action California
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action Champaign Urbana
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action Long Island
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action Maryland
Bend the Arc Jewish Action: South Jersey
Bet Mishpachah, Washington, DC
Beth El Hebrew Congregation, Alexandria, VA
Beyt Tikkun Synagogue, Berkeley, CA
Carolina Jews for Justice
Chadeish Yameinu Jewish Renewal of Santa Cruz, CA
Chicago Board of Rabbis
Congregation Bet Haverim of Davis, CA
Congregation Har Shalom, Potomac, MD
Congregation Ner Shalom, Woodbridge, VA
Congregation Simchat HaLev, Woodbury, NY
Fabrangen Havurah, Washington, DC
HIAS Pennsylvania
JCFS Chicago
Jewish Activists for Immigration Justice of Western Massachusetts
Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action, Boston, MA
Jewish Coalition for Immigrant Justice NW, Seattle, WA
Jewish Community Action, Minneapolis, MN
Jewish Community of Amherst, MA
Jewish Community Relations Council, Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester
Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area

Jewish Community Relations Council of Broward County
Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston
Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater New Orleans
Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Phoenix
Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington
Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle
Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, Chicago, EL
Jewish Family & Community Services East Bay
Jewish Family Service of Metrowest Boston
Jewish Family Services of Greenwich
Jewish Family & Community Services Pittsburgh
Jewish Family Service Seattle
Jewish Family Services of Silicon Valley
Jewish Family Services of Western New York
Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle
Jewish Social Services of Madison
Jews For Racial & Economic Justice, New York, NY
JPAC – Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California
Kesher Pittsburgh
Levine Center To End Hate, Rochester, NY
Makom HaLev, Pittsburgh, PA
National Council of Jewish Women Arizona
New York Jewish Agenda
Ohr Nistar, Pittsburgh, PA
Or Tzafon Retreat Center, Suttons Bay, MI
Rabbi Joseph H. Gumbiner Community Action Project
Reform Congregation Oheb Sholom, Wyomissing PA
Temple Beth Ami, Rockville, MD
Temple Beth Hatfiloh, Olympia, WA
Temple Israel of Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA
Temple Micah, Washington D.C.
Temple Rodef Shalom, Virginia
Temple Shalom, Washington D.C.
Tivat Israel Congregation, Rockville, MD
Tivnu: Building Justice, Portland
Tucson Jewish Museum & Holocaust Center, AZ
Weaving Wholeness, Philadelphia, PA