Arthur Waskow protesting at the ICE headquarters in Philadelphia with ElderWitness and Friends. Image by Arthur Waskow

Rabbi Arthur Waskow was arrested on Wednesday for blocking the entrance to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters in Philadelphia in protest of President Trump’s border policies.

Waskow, one of the founders of the Jewish Renewal movement, was demonstrating with the group ElderWitness and Friends, Public News Service reported. Around 100 people were present at the protest, many of whom wore Statue of Liberty costumes and held signs criticizing the detention of immigrant children and the separation of families at the United States-Mexico border.

Waskow, his partner Rabbi Phyllis Berman and two others were arrested by the Federal Department of Homeland Security police and charged with two federal offenses, Waskow confirmed to the Forward in an email. They face fines and potentially prison time.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Waskow, who is in his late 80s, was arrested in the same spot last year, also protesting ICE and the Trump administration’s border policies.

While Berman is on the EldersWitness steering committee, she and Waskow participated in the demonstration as rabbis.

“Our arrests also are for us, connected with a major wave of Jewish protests, including arrests, that swept across the country on or about Tisha B’Av in August,” Waskow wrote, referring to the Never Again Action movement. “I believe they were the first such event in American Jewish history, when a large segment of the Jewish community publicly and vigorously opposed a major policy priority of the US government. That did not happen, for example, in response to the Vietnam War.”

Alyssa Fisher is a writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

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.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

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.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount