Jews protest ICE brutality across 17 cities as part of Jews Demand: ICE Out! National Day of Action, organized by T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, Bend the Arc: Jewish Action
NEW YORK – On Thursday, 10 rabbis and two reverends were arrested after blocking traffic in front of 26 Federal Plaza, holding signs with names and photos of the 21 people killed by ICE so far in 2026. The clergy demanded an end to business as usual, protesting ICE’s brutality and cruelty in that building, along with their policies of family separation, holding people in cramped and inhumane conditions, and denying them due process. The clergy and a crowd of 200 Jewish New Yorkers called for the passage of New York For All, which would prohibit state and local government agencies from colluding with ICE.
The New York City action anchored a national Jewish day of action across 17 cities, organized by T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, and 70 co-sponsoring Jewish organizations and synagogues, including HIAS, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.
Jewish communities around the country took action in solidarity with the growing movement to reject ICE brutality and violence, demanding ICE leave schools and workplaces, parks and streets, places of worship, and communities everywhere. Grounded in Jewish text and tradition, these actions made the moral case that this system is both a failure of policy and of conscience, and that it does not have to be this way. Speakers also drew attention to the complicity of corporations. The national day of action built on momentum from a February action outside ICE headquarters in Washington, DC, where 100 rabbis and cantors led over 600 Jews in a protest.
The clergy arrested in New York were Rabbi Guy Austrian, Rabbi Les Bronstein, Rabbi Laura Gold, Rabbi Shirley Idelson, Rabbi Mike Moskowitz, Rabbi Leora Kaye, Rabbi Stephanie Kolin, Rabbi Bill Plevan, Rabbi David Rosenn, Rabbi Jennie Rosenn, Reverend Juan Carlos Ruiz, and Reverend Chloe Breyer.
Rabbi Stephanie Kolin of Congregation Beth Elohim, who was arrested, said: “We have been the strangers in so many lands throughout history. It is a terrifying and precarious position. So our tradition teaches us: ‘You shall love the stranger as yourself.’ Love! That word matters. When we see our immigrant neighbors’ families torn apart, as they live in the cruel shadow of detentions and deportations, our hearts turn to them as our sisters and brothers in shared humanity. As Jews, we will not look away; we will act with love.”
“I believe that Judaism is a religion of action; it is not enough to simply love peace, we must also pursue it,” said Rabbi Mike Moskowitz, Director of Scholarship & Multi-Faith Engagement at The Beacon for Democracy, who was arrested. “If we desire to have a relationship with God, as a parental figure, then we must interact with all of God’s children as our siblings – I’m protesting because this is not how you treat family.”
Jamie Beran, CEO of Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, spoke at the protest. She said: “Trump and Congressional Republicans are trying to funnel 140 billion more dollars to ICE and Border Patrol at a time when Americans are struggling to stay housed, stay fed, stay employed, and stay healthy, but we won’t look away, we won’t be silent, and we will continue to fight back.”
Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, spoke at the protest, saying: “The Jewish commitment to protecting people on the move is not new. It’s as ancient as our earliest traditions. Today we are proving that we’re not going anywhere: that the Jewish community will stand up against ICE brutality and violence, alongside our neighbors, every time. When we demand ICE leave our cities, we are living our values. When we demand not one more dollar for ICE and CBP, we are living our values. When we cry out against the impunity, the death, the disappearances, we are living our values. This is our Judaism.”
Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, said: “The RAC is proud to join Jewish organizations across the country calling for an end to ICE policies that inflict harm and sow fear. Guided by our tradition’s call to pursue justice and protect the vulnerable, we raise our voices for a future where every person is treated with dignity and compassion, and everyone in our communities is able to pray, learn, and access medical care without fear of ICE presence. We know a more just and humane path is not only possible, but necessary—and we are committed to continuing to build it.”
“Thousands of American Jews are rallying today in solidarity with immigrant communities and for the values of fairness, dignity, and compassion,” said Beth Oppenheim, CEO of HIAS. “We are proud to be amongst the many organizations taking action today against the fear and violent intimidation that ICE is inflicting. We are here because we know the weight of our own Jewish history is behind us. We want the immigrants and refugees we serve to know: we are with you, and we will always fight for your rights and safety.”
“ICE’s lawless, militarized immigration raids — tearing people from schools, workplaces, and houses of worship — are an attack on the inclusive American democracy that keeps Jews and every minority community safe,” said Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. “The xenophobic replacement theories driving this administration’s enforcement agenda are the same antisemitic ideologies that have fueled violence against our community for years. JCPA is proud to cosponsor ‘Jews Demand: ICE Out!’ because we will not be silent while antisemitism, xenophobia, and hatred are laundered into federal policy.”
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T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights brings the Torah’s ideals of human dignity, equality, and justice to life by empowering our network of over 2,300 rabbis and cantors to be moral voices and to lead Jewish communities in advancing democracy and human rights for all people in the United States, Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territories.
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action is a movement of progressive Jews across the country who are fighting for justice and equality for all.