Jewish Groups Push for Immigration Reform on Passover Eve
An array of Jewish groups urged President Obama and Congress to ease the path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
Nineteen national groups and dozens of local groups and clergy signed on to a letter sent last Friday that was timed for Passover.
“American Jews know too well the impact of restrictive immigration policies, and we have seen how the immigration issue can become a flashpoint for xenophobia,” said the letter, which was spearheaded by the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.
Signatories represented all four major Jewish religious streams as well as the major Jewish civil rights groups, and the federation and public policy umbrellas.
“We are concerned the failure of national leaders to fix the broken immigration system has fueled racist, nativist, and extremist groups who blame immigrants for our country’s problems, and has been a central factor in the spread of state and local policies and laws that legalize discrimination against immigrants,” the letter says.
It calls for legislation that “brings undocumented immigrants out of the shadows by providing a pathway to citizenship, creates safe and legal avenues for future flows of immigrants, reunites families, establishes border protection and enforcement policies that enhance our national security, and accords all immigrants the responsibilities and rights required for full integration into American society.”
The letter asks that such a system be “realistic” and that citizenship be available “within a reasonable timeframe of years, not decades.” It also urges reform that “fixes the broken system for admitting and integrating refugees and asylum seekers.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
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 the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.