Over the weekend, many Jewish nonprofit groups of otherwise diverse political leanings condemned President Trump’s immigration ban, which bars all immigrants and visa holders from entering the U.S. from seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days. The order also affects green card holders and refugees, who are banned for 120 days. As a result, protests sprang up all over the United States—from city streets to airports. Many Jews noted the chilling coincidence of these measures being put into place on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, reminding us of the parallels between the Trump Administration’s decision to close its doors to Syrian refugees, among others, and the U.S.’s failure to absorb Jewish refugees in the early years of the Holocaust.
Here in New York, for instance, a city that President Trump has called home for decades, the Committee on American Islamic Relations held a protest in New York’s Washington Square Park on Wednesday evening, immediately following his executive actions; delegations from Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice, the Workmen’s Circle, and other progressive Jewish organizations, also participated. Jews for Racial and Economic Justice organized a Havdalah and action evening at JFK on Saturday, and they also co-sponsored a rally and march on Sunday in lower Manhattan, with several Jewish groups joining these protests yet again.
Unable to make it to the protests but still want to contribute? In addition to organizations like the ACLU, which has received a slew of donations after filing a lawsuit on behalf of the two Iraqis detained at JFK, and others (some of which specifically give aid to Syrian would-be refugees who are now barred from entering the U.S.), here is a list of suggestions of Jewish organizations that are taking action against the ban or in support of immigrants and refugees:
HIAS was founded in 1881 to help Jews fleeing pogroms. They are “the only Jewish organization designated by the federal government” to undertake direct refugee resettlement in the U.S., and they have condemned “the Trump administration’s callous approach to victims of war and terror,” pledging to “fight this betrayal of American and Jewish values with every tool at our disposal.” Donate here.
The American Jewish World Service, a Jewish humanitarian aid organization that works to “end poverty and promote human rights in the developing world,” opposes the ban and its violation of Jewish values, American values, and international human rights law, as their CEO wrote in Haaretz. Donate here.
The Jewish Coalition for Disaster Relief, which provides aid to victims of “natural or manmade disasters” outside North America, has worked specifically on the Syrian refugee crisis. Donate here.
Jews for Racial and Economic Justice is a New York City-based progressive organization that was on the front-lines of protests this weekend. The organization is “inspired by Jewish tradition to fight for a sustainable world with an equitable distribution of economic and cultural resources and political power.” Donate here.
Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice, a progressive organization of American Jews fighting for social justice specifically in the United States, has an political action and advocacy arm that has released a statement opposing the executive order. Donate here.
RAC (Religious Action Center) is a Reform Jewish political action group that supports immigration, has been vocal about opposing the ban, and currently has a platform in place to facilitate constituents’ contact with legislators to voice their opposition. Donate here.
T’ruah, the Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, is a coalition of rabbis and cantors advocating for human rights. They issued a statement against the ban. Donate here.
Miranda Cooper is an editorial intern at Tablet. Follow her on Twitter here.
