Is Yeshiva University Criticizing Trump’s Immigration Ban?

Richard Joel
Yeshiva University, the flagship educational institution of Modern Orthodox Judaism, issued a statement Monday that appeared to criticize President Donald Trump’s executive order temporarily banning immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries.
“There is continuing turmoil regarding US immigration policy,” said YU president Richard Joel in the statement. “Yeshiva University is unwavering in its support of religious rights and societal values. Ensuring spiritual and personal freedoms are fundamental to the country, our community and our university.”
In a separate statement reportedly sent to students and faculty at YU’s Cardozo Law School, and posted online by the Cardozo chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, Joel said that the university would not release information about students to the government without a court order, and would seek to assist students impacted by any change to the Obama-era policy that allowed some immigrants brought to the nation as children to have work permits.
“The Administration has been following these unfolding events and takes their implications most seriously,” Joel said in that statement.
In wake of #MuslimBan, Yeshiva University & Cardozo Law School announce they will be #SanctuaryCampus. #NoBanNoWall. pic.twitter.com/9NQ16cGSEh
— Cardozo NLG (@CardozoNLG) January 30, 2017
Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected] or on Twitter, @joshnathankazis.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Ye debuts ‘Heil Hitler’ music video that includes a sample of a Hitler speech
- 2
Opinion It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump
- 3
Culture Cardinals are Catholic, not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
- 4
Fast Forward Student suspended for ‘F— the Jews’ video defends himself on antisemitic podcast
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture Should Diaspora Jews be buried in Israel? A rabbi responds
-
Fast Forward In first Sunday address, Pope Leo XIV calls for ceasefire in Gaza, release of hostages
-
Fast Forward Huckabee denies rift between Netanyahu and Trump as US actions in Middle East appear to leave out Israel
-
Fast Forward Federal security grants to synagogues are resuming after two-month Trump freeze
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.