Recent extremist violence at Jewish-led gatherings in Washington, D.C. and Boulder, CO has stoked American Jews’ fear of antisemitism. Now, Trump is exploiting our pain and worry to fast track his authoritarian attacks on immigrants and our civil rights. In doing so, he makes Jews less safe.
In the wake of our community’s horror and mourning after the killing of two attendees at a Jewish event in D.C. and the attacks on a gathering of Jews in Boulder, another president might have chosen to calm a nation and address violence — while mapping out a bright and safe future ahead. Trump instead chose to use our community as a smokescreen to normalize a reintroduction and expansion of his 2017 Muslim Ban. He also chose to collectively punish a suspect’s wife and children with deportation, providing himself another cover to normalize his ongoing illegal subversion of due process and test his ability to use the White House for revenge.
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action refuses to allow the Trump administration to bogusly claim that his authoritarian policies on travel and immigration have anything to do with keeping Jews safe. Quite the opposite: we see this administration's actions for what they are, which is a willingness to let Jews take public blame for his authoritarian power grabs and attacks on our Constitution. They don't care if it hurts us as long as they succeed in using us.
American Jews, whose families largely hail from all over the globe, overwhelmingly support immigration and travel for all people, without singling out any people based on their faith or nationality with a separate set of laws. Jews have been safest in strong democracies. We know that Trump’s attacks on our democracy aren’t just ineffective in promoting Jewish safety; they actually put us in more danger. Both by using Jewish safety as a smokescreen for his plans to disassemble our liberties, and, in doing so, further destroying the democracy that keeps Jews and all those we love safe.
Eighty-six years ago this week, the United States turned away a ship called the MS St. Louis, which sought to rescue 937 refugees — almost all Jewish — from Europe. Today, this act is widely accepted as one of this nation’s most shameful moments. But this nation is also one where people challenged that sort of antisemitism and xenophobia and, in doing so, became home to over 135,000 Holocaust survivors. One of our proudest legacies.
Seven years ago, Trump's first White House shut the door on Muslim travelers. There was chaos at airports across the country. People of all faiths and across all walks of life took to the street and challenged Islamophobia and xenophobia — and won. Another proud legacy.
Today, as Trump tries another ban, this time wielding a new lie, we remind ourselves, our partners, elected officials, and every American — Jewish and of all faiths or none — we have stopped this before and we can stop this again.
