Good afternoon, I’m Jamie Beran and I lead Bend the Arc Jewish Action.

“There shall be one law for the native and the immigrant who lives among you.” (Exodus 12:49)

“Do not oppress a migrant, for you know the feelings of the migrant, having yourselves been migrants in the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 23:9)

“You shall not stand idly by while your neighbor is bleeding.” (Leviticus 19:16).

These aren’t just passages from the Torah. These are also passages, literally, by spirit or through values — echoed in the scriptures and beliefs of so many of our faith traditions represented here today in this holy coalition.

When Minnesotans from across the state saw their neighbors in need, Minnesotans came from all over to stand with each other against ICE!

And when people like me — from across the nation — saw our neighbors in need and heard the call from our friends in Minnesota, we came from all over the nation to stand together!

And this is why I’m here. I’m here in the long tradition of interfaith coalitions rushing to points of conflict across this nation.

From the Civil Rights movement’s Black churches, its Jewish congregations, Catholic clergy, Quakers and Unitarians. To the houses of worship that stood with farmworkers and against the Vietnam war. To the Poor People’s campaign’s nonviolent witness and call for a moral revival from the interlocking harms of white supremacy, poverty, and racism.

To the Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Sikh, Hindu, Muslim, Unitarian and indigenous spiritual leaders who said George Floyd’s name right here in Minneapolis.

And to the faith leaders across this country who remember what our traditions actually stand for: the dignity of ALL people, no matter who we are, who we love, where we are from, or how we pray.

We’re here as a reminder that this regime is outnumbered! Outnumbered by millions of millions of Americans, across faith and race, who stand shoulder-to-shoulder to reject cruelty and oppression.

We’re here as a reminder that this regime is outsmarted! Outsmarted because the framers of the Constitution, and everyone who fought to improve it, gave us the tools to defeat tyranny, and we clearly know how to use them.

We’re here as a reminder that there is hope. We’re a physical reminder to every person at home made to feel like there is no hope.

No hope — that’s the lie the tyrants want us to believe. We’re a reminder to every person at home made to feel like we’re outnumbered.

Outnumbered — that’s the lie the tyrants want us to believe. We’re a reminder to every person at home made to feel powerless.

Powerless — that too is the lie the tyrants want us to believe.

When my great-grandfather fled tyranny to find safety in the United States, he heard these same lies. When indigenous and Black Americans experienced tyranny right here in the United States, with nowhere to flee they heard these same lies. These lies are, and always have been, a blueprint for the subjugation and dehumanization ICE is using today to terrorize our immigrant neighbors and intimidate all of us into complying with their brutality.

But lies are just lies.

Across generations, our faith coalition has consistently shown us that there is always hope in the face of tyranny.

Because hope is another word for faith.

And as pardoned insurrectionists, Proud Boys, and neo-Nazis seamlessly transition to wearing ICE uniforms, receiving paychecks stolen from our kitchen tables so they can declare war on our children, our elders, and our neighbors who are simply trying to go to work, Minnesotans are showing us the way.

Minnesotans are showing us — every day, in big and small ways — that that hope, that faith, is fueled by action. And there is no greater action than that of those on the right side of history, especially with our histories, our faiths, and our majority.

We are the majority!

And there is no holier call to action than the call to action for each other. We are here for each other and we will always be here for each other until we too become the American, multifaith victory story someone else tells here decades from now.

The story of how we came together, grounded in our faith, and declared…

This tyranny ends now!