NEW YORK – Today the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Biden v. Texas that the Biden administration has the power to discontinue the Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the “Remain in Mexico” program. In reaction, T’ruah, a rabbinic human rights organization that represents over 2,300 rabbis and cantors and their communities in North America, welcomed the Court ruling. This ruling honors the humanity and dignity of refugees by allowing President Biden to repeal the dangerous policy.
Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of T’ruah, issued the following statement:
“We are elated to welcome good news from the Supreme Court on a critical issue of human rights. The Remain in Mexico policy has been harmful, inhumane, and extreme, and it is a direct affront to our Jewish commitment to welcoming those in need of refuge. Remain in Mexico, coupled with other xenophobic policies such as Title 42, had been effectively removing the human right to seek asylum. Per longstanding U.S. policy prior to the Trump administration, those seeking asylum in the U.S. should have the opportunity to await their hearings inside of the United States, without threat of deportation. Today, the Court honored that standing precedent. We call on President Biden to follow through, and officially end the policy.
“Welcoming asylum seekers is core to our Jewish values. The Talmud describes the sin of Sodom, the paradigmatic evil city, as cruelty to foreigners.
“‘[The people of Sodom] said: Since bread comes forth out of [our] earth, and it has the dust of gold, why should we suffer wayfarers, who come to us only to deplete our wealth? Come, let us abolish the practice of traveling in our land.’ (Sanhedrin 109a) Lot, Abraham’s nephew, is the one resident who opens his doors to travelers, who turn out to be divine messengers who rescue his family. The act of welcome is portrayed as a morally upright and even holy practice.
“In October 2019, T’ruah rabbis traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border and met individuals and families living in a cramped shelter in Mexico. The refugees were sent there after attempting to apply for asylum in the United States and were fearful of stepping outside and into the hands of cartel members who prey on refugees. The global pandemic has only made these asylum seekers more vulnerable, as they have no ability to distance themselves from those who are infected and little access to health care.
“We must learn the lesson of Sodom and treat those seeking refuge with compassion and dignity. Only with a just, transparent, and timely system for those seeking asylum into the United States will we be truly living out both our Jewish and American ideals. This ruling helps us get one step closer to building that future.”
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights mobilizes a network of more than 2,300 rabbis and cantors from all streams of Judaism that, together with the Jewish community, act on the Jewish imperative to respect and advance the human rights of all people. Grounded in Torah and our Jewish historical experience and guided by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we call upon Jews to assert Jewish values by raising our voices and taking concrete steps to protect and expand human rights in North America, Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territories.
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[description] => Jewish history has taught us that fascism arrives slowly, through the steady erosion of liberties. And we have learned that those who attack other minorities will eventually come to attack us. To our great dismay, we learned this truth again when, during the last election campaign, antisemitism rose to the fore, along with racism, Islamophobia, xenophobia, misogyny, and homophobia. These are not Jewish nor American values, and T’ruah is more committed than ever to defending the human rights of all people as precious creations of the divine.
Now more than ever, your voice is urgently needed to counter the rising tide of intolerance and hatred of minorities in our country. Click below to sign the pledge to hold Trump accountable for upholding human rights and civil liberties.
If you are a rabbi or cantor, sign here.
If you are a lay member of the Jewish community, sign here.
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-Deuteronomy 10:19
Most immigrants to the U.S. come seeking safety, freedom, and a better life, just as many of our families did. Jewish texts, history, traditions, and values compel us to welcome them with dignity and compassion.
But our country’s policies towards immigrants remain far from our shared vision. While the Trump Administration’s dangerous policies were blatantly rooted in racism, xenophobia, and white supremacy, President Biden has not made the improvements our communities have demanded.
The United States must follow international human rights law when it comes to asylum seekers, refugees, and immigrants. Our government must also recognize and redress the systemic racism that permeates our immigration system, discriminating against immigrants of color.
In the fight for true immigrant justice and relief, we need all hands on deck.
Our work includes:
- Organizing clergy through our BIMA Campaign (Building Immigration Momentum & Action), encouraging rabbis and cantors to recognize how they can use their platform to change the narrative around immigration for the better
- Human rights delegations to the southern border for clergy, with our partners at HIAS
- Coalition work through the Interfaith Immigration Coalition
- Working with the All In For Registry campaign to update our immigration laws to allow millions of longtime undocumented US residents a path to permanent legal status
- Advocating to Congress and the federal government for a more humane immigration system that welcomes asylum seekers and refugees with dignity, provides legitimate pathways to citizenship for more of our neighbors, and reduces reliance on detention and deportation.
*In the Torah, the word "ger" refers to a person who came from elsewhere, but is now a long-term or permanent resident of their new community.
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"This year we are slaves; next year, may we be free."
—Passover Haggadah
"No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all other forms."
—Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 4
T'ruah is leading the charge in the Jewish community against modern-day slavery and human trafficking, focusing on the issue of slavery in supply chains. Our work includes
- Partnering with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to expand the Fair Food Program, the most effective slavery prevention program in U.S. agriculture.
- We are the only Jewish organization that is a member of ATEST, the Alliance to End Slavery &Trafficking, the premier U.S. coalition dedicated to supporting those vulnerable to trafficking.
- Supporting federal legislation to help survivors of trafficking.
- Training more than 70 rabbis in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC to engage their communities in addressing slavery and trafficking locally.
- Co-leading the Jewish Coalition Against Trafficking, together with the National Council of Jewish Women.
- Partnering with Equal Exchange and Divine Chocolate, to encourage Jewish communities to purchase kosher Fair Trade Chanukah gelt, kosher-for-Passover chocolate, coffee, and other products.
Three thousand years after the Jewish people are said to have been liberated from slavery, and 150 years after the Civil War,
more people are enslaved today than at any other point in history.
According to the most conservative estimates of the International Labor Organization, nearly 21 million people are held in situations of forced labor today: three out of every 1,000 people in the world.
Human trafficking does not occur in a vacuum but represents the extreme end of a continuum of worker exploitation and vulnerability. We therefore support worker-led campaigns to raise wages, combat abuses, and create meaningful enforcement mechanisms to implement hard-won rights.
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Now more than ever, your voice is urgently needed to counter the rising tide of intolerance and hatred of minorities in our country. Click below to sign the pledge to hold Trump accountable for upholding human rights and civil liberties.
If you are a rabbi or cantor, sign here.
If you are a lay member of the Jewish community, sign here.
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-Deuteronomy 10:19
Most immigrants to the U.S. come seeking safety, freedom, and a better life, just as many of our families did. Jewish texts, history, traditions, and values compel us to welcome them with dignity and compassion.
But our country’s policies towards immigrants remain far from our shared vision. While the Trump Administration’s dangerous policies were blatantly rooted in racism, xenophobia, and white supremacy, President Biden has not made the improvements our communities have demanded.
The United States must follow international human rights law when it comes to asylum seekers, refugees, and immigrants. Our government must also recognize and redress the systemic racism that permeates our immigration system, discriminating against immigrants of color.
In the fight for true immigrant justice and relief, we need all hands on deck.
Our work includes:
- Organizing clergy through our BIMA Campaign (Building Immigration Momentum & Action), encouraging rabbis and cantors to recognize how they can use their platform to change the narrative around immigration for the better
- Human rights delegations to the southern border for clergy, with our partners at HIAS
- Coalition work through the Interfaith Immigration Coalition
- Working with the All In For Registry campaign to update our immigration laws to allow millions of longtime undocumented US residents a path to permanent legal status
- Advocating to Congress and the federal government for a more humane immigration system that welcomes asylum seekers and refugees with dignity, provides legitimate pathways to citizenship for more of our neighbors, and reduces reliance on detention and deportation.
*In the Torah, the word "ger" refers to a person who came from elsewhere, but is now a long-term or permanent resident of their new community.
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"This year we are slaves; next year, may we be free."
—Passover Haggadah
"No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all other forms."
—Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 4
T'ruah is leading the charge in the Jewish community against modern-day slavery and human trafficking, focusing on the issue of slavery in supply chains. Our work includes
- Partnering with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to expand the Fair Food Program, the most effective slavery prevention program in U.S. agriculture.
- We are the only Jewish organization that is a member of ATEST, the Alliance to End Slavery &Trafficking, the premier U.S. coalition dedicated to supporting those vulnerable to trafficking.
- Supporting federal legislation to help survivors of trafficking.
- Training more than 70 rabbis in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC to engage their communities in addressing slavery and trafficking locally.
- Co-leading the Jewish Coalition Against Trafficking, together with the National Council of Jewish Women.
- Partnering with Equal Exchange and Divine Chocolate, to encourage Jewish communities to purchase kosher Fair Trade Chanukah gelt, kosher-for-Passover chocolate, coffee, and other products.
Three thousand years after the Jewish people are said to have been liberated from slavery, and 150 years after the Civil War,
more people are enslaved today than at any other point in history.
According to the most conservative estimates of the International Labor Organization, nearly 21 million people are held in situations of forced labor today: three out of every 1,000 people in the world.
Human trafficking does not occur in a vacuum but represents the extreme end of a continuum of worker exploitation and vulnerability. We therefore support worker-led campaigns to raise wages, combat abuses, and create meaningful enforcement mechanisms to implement hard-won rights.
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Now more than ever, your voice is urgently needed to counter the rising tide of intolerance and hatred of minorities in our country. Click below to sign the pledge to hold Trump accountable for upholding human rights and civil liberties.
If you are a rabbi or cantor, sign here.
If you are a lay member of the Jewish community, sign here.
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-Deuteronomy 10:19
Most immigrants to the U.S. come seeking safety, freedom, and a better life, just as many of our families did. Jewish texts, history, traditions, and values compel us to welcome them with dignity and compassion.
But our country’s policies towards immigrants remain far from our shared vision. While the Trump Administration’s dangerous policies were blatantly rooted in racism, xenophobia, and white supremacy, President Biden has not made the improvements our communities have demanded.
The United States must follow international human rights law when it comes to asylum seekers, refugees, and immigrants. Our government must also recognize and redress the systemic racism that permeates our immigration system, discriminating against immigrants of color.
In the fight for true immigrant justice and relief, we need all hands on deck.
Our work includes:
- Organizing clergy through our BIMA Campaign (Building Immigration Momentum & Action), encouraging rabbis and cantors to recognize how they can use their platform to change the narrative around immigration for the better
- Human rights delegations to the southern border for clergy, with our partners at HIAS
- Coalition work through the Interfaith Immigration Coalition
- Working with the All In For Registry campaign to update our immigration laws to allow millions of longtime undocumented US residents a path to permanent legal status
- Advocating to Congress and the federal government for a more humane immigration system that welcomes asylum seekers and refugees with dignity, provides legitimate pathways to citizenship for more of our neighbors, and reduces reliance on detention and deportation.
*In the Torah, the word "ger" refers to a person who came from elsewhere, but is now a long-term or permanent resident of their new community.
Partners:
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"This year we are slaves; next year, may we be free."
—Passover Haggadah
"No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all other forms."
—Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 4
T'ruah is leading the charge in the Jewish community against modern-day slavery and human trafficking, focusing on the issue of slavery in supply chains. Our work includes
- Partnering with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to expand the Fair Food Program, the most effective slavery prevention program in U.S. agriculture.
- We are the only Jewish organization that is a member of ATEST, the Alliance to End Slavery &Trafficking, the premier U.S. coalition dedicated to supporting those vulnerable to trafficking.
- Supporting federal legislation to help survivors of trafficking.
- Training more than 70 rabbis in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC to engage their communities in addressing slavery and trafficking locally.
- Co-leading the Jewish Coalition Against Trafficking, together with the National Council of Jewish Women.
- Partnering with Equal Exchange and Divine Chocolate, to encourage Jewish communities to purchase kosher Fair Trade Chanukah gelt, kosher-for-Passover chocolate, coffee, and other products.
Three thousand years after the Jewish people are said to have been liberated from slavery, and 150 years after the Civil War,
more people are enslaved today than at any other point in history.
According to the most conservative estimates of the International Labor Organization, nearly 21 million people are held in situations of forced labor today: three out of every 1,000 people in the world.
Human trafficking does not occur in a vacuum but represents the extreme end of a continuum of worker exploitation and vulnerability. We therefore support worker-led campaigns to raise wages, combat abuses, and create meaningful enforcement mechanisms to implement hard-won rights.
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Now more than ever, your voice is urgently needed to counter the rising tide of intolerance and hatred of minorities in our country. Click below to sign the pledge to hold Trump accountable for upholding human rights and civil liberties.
If you are a rabbi or cantor, sign here.
If you are a lay member of the Jewish community, sign here.
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-Deuteronomy 10:19
Most immigrants to the U.S. come seeking safety, freedom, and a better life, just as many of our families did. Jewish texts, history, traditions, and values compel us to welcome them with dignity and compassion.
But our country’s policies towards immigrants remain far from our shared vision. While the Trump Administration’s dangerous policies were blatantly rooted in racism, xenophobia, and white supremacy, President Biden has not made the improvements our communities have demanded.
The United States must follow international human rights law when it comes to asylum seekers, refugees, and immigrants. Our government must also recognize and redress the systemic racism that permeates our immigration system, discriminating against immigrants of color.
In the fight for true immigrant justice and relief, we need all hands on deck.
Our work includes:
- Organizing clergy through our BIMA Campaign (Building Immigration Momentum & Action), encouraging rabbis and cantors to recognize how they can use their platform to change the narrative around immigration for the better
- Human rights delegations to the southern border for clergy, with our partners at HIAS
- Coalition work through the Interfaith Immigration Coalition
- Working with the All In For Registry campaign to update our immigration laws to allow millions of longtime undocumented US residents a path to permanent legal status
- Advocating to Congress and the federal government for a more humane immigration system that welcomes asylum seekers and refugees with dignity, provides legitimate pathways to citizenship for more of our neighbors, and reduces reliance on detention and deportation.
*In the Torah, the word "ger" refers to a person who came from elsewhere, but is now a long-term or permanent resident of their new community.
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"This year we are slaves; next year, may we be free."
—Passover Haggadah
"No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all other forms."
—Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 4
T'ruah is leading the charge in the Jewish community against modern-day slavery and human trafficking, focusing on the issue of slavery in supply chains. Our work includes
- Partnering with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to expand the Fair Food Program, the most effective slavery prevention program in U.S. agriculture.
- We are the only Jewish organization that is a member of ATEST, the Alliance to End Slavery &Trafficking, the premier U.S. coalition dedicated to supporting those vulnerable to trafficking.
- Supporting federal legislation to help survivors of trafficking.
- Training more than 70 rabbis in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC to engage their communities in addressing slavery and trafficking locally.
- Co-leading the Jewish Coalition Against Trafficking, together with the National Council of Jewish Women.
- Partnering with Equal Exchange and Divine Chocolate, to encourage Jewish communities to purchase kosher Fair Trade Chanukah gelt, kosher-for-Passover chocolate, coffee, and other products.
Three thousand years after the Jewish people are said to have been liberated from slavery, and 150 years after the Civil War,
more people are enslaved today than at any other point in history.
According to the most conservative estimates of the International Labor Organization, nearly 21 million people are held in situations of forced labor today: three out of every 1,000 people in the world.
Human trafficking does not occur in a vacuum but represents the extreme end of a continuum of worker exploitation and vulnerability. We therefore support worker-led campaigns to raise wages, combat abuses, and create meaningful enforcement mechanisms to implement hard-won rights.
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