FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 10
Contact: Logan Smith
[email protected]
202-709-8825
Leading Jewish orgs demand: President Biden, protect immigrants in the next recovery package
WASHINGTON – Dozens of leading Jewish organizations and over 2,000 Jewish Americans are calling on President Biden to deliver on his campaign promise by including a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants in the next recovery package.
Organizations including Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, the National Council of Jewish Women, HIAS, Union for Reform Judaism, the Conservative Movement’s Rabbinical Assembly, the ADL, and others sent a letter to the White House and Congress on Wednesday urging President Biden to protect immigrant workers and secure the health of our nation while laying the foundation for an equitable recovery. The letter was organized as part of the We Are Home Coalition: a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-generational coalition working to protect immigrants and end the cruelty of our detention and deportation system.
[Click here to read the letter from Jewish organizations to the White House]
“As Jews, we are taught that each person is created b’tzelem elohim, in the divine image,” reads the letter. “Each of us is equally deserving of the opportunity to prosper in safety. Our Jewish history and values power our steadfast belief that our immigrant community members, friends, neighbors, and families contribute greatly to the fabric of our country, and those who have continued to put their lives on the line to provide for our communities during this deadly pandemic deserve to be given a pathway to citizenship.”
The organizations also sent a petition from over 2,000 Jewish Americans mirroring the letter’s call to protect immigrants in the next White House recovery package.
“We all know this moment won’t last forever,” said Rabbi Jason Kimelman-Block, Washington Director of Bend the Arc: Jewish Action. “This is not a time for excuses. This is not a time to say why it’s hard. This is not a time to say why it can’t happen. You’ve said that you support citizenship for undocumented Americans -- now is the time to make it so.”
Rabbi Kimelman-Block spoke on Wednesday at Faith In Action’s launch event of the Fast for Freedom campaign, which is also seeking a pathway to citizenship in the next relief bill.
The We Are Home Coalition includes United We Dream, UndocuBlack Network, National Domestic Workers Alliance, Detention Watch Network, National Immigration Law Center, Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, and more.
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action is uniting a movement of tens of thousands of progressive Jews across the country who are fighting for justice and equality for all. We are the only national Jewish organization focused exclusively on social change in the United States.
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