Progressive NY Jewish groups rally against Trump deportations

Progressive Jewish groups in New York demand that local leaders oppose US President Donald Trump’s plans to deport undocumented immigrants.

More than 50 rabbis and 10 advocacy groups sign a letter to New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams urging them “to do everything within your power to oppose all aspects of President Trump’s mass deportation agenda and to protect immigrant communities across New York.”

“Our children will show up to school to find their classmates missing; the care workers who take care of New York’s older adults won’t show up to work; and our neighbors will disappear in ICE sweeps,” the letter says.

The activists announce the effort at a press conference at City Hall in Manhattan.

The signatories tie the effort to historical Jewish migration to the US and the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt.

“We read in the Book of Exodus of how a new Pharaoh arose over Egypt who scapegoated and marginalized the Israelites, spinning a narrative that they were a threat and needed to be suppressed and ultimately enslaved,” the letter says. “We will not stand by while history repeats itself. You, our state and local leaders, must not either.”

The letter urges New York leaders to tell law enforcement to restrict crackdowns on migrants in sensitive locations such as schools, stop law enforcement from collaborating with ICE, not use jails to detain migrants, and provide immigrants in New York with resources such as legal representation.

Groups endorsing the letter include HIAS, Jews for Economic and Racial Justice, the New York Jewish Agenda, T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, and the Workers Circle.