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So where do we find hope?
We find it in the growing numbers of activists, faith leaders and organizations, political leaders, healthcare professionals, and more who have raised their voices boldly in the last year, demanding an end to Title 42 and “Remain in Mexico”/MPP. We are proud to be part of this growing movement, and we draw strength from working closely with strong and broad national coalitions–especially Welcome with Dignity, made up of 95 justice organizations committed to justice for immigrants and asylum seekers!
In moments of frustration and despair, we remind ourselves that the momentum is growing, like a snowball gathering both weight and speed as it rushes downhill. As we’re reminded from Jewish teachings, “It is not ours to complete the work, but neither are we free to desist from it!” It is up to us to add to that snowball in any way we can–by adding more weight and by pushing it downward with all our strength, which in turn will add more snow!
As we faced the summer’s disappointment that Biden did not end the use of Title 42 as promised in his campaign, in the early fall we were particularly inspired by reading:
As we were reading these letters and statements by Catholic organizations and by doctors, JAIJ members decided that we needed to speak out forcefully as Jews. We crafted a national letter to Dr. Walensky, Director of the CDC, and Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of DHS–both of whom play key roles in continuing anti-asylum policies under the current administration. As a group rooted in the Jewish community we needed to speak directly to leaders who had indicated that their work was built on Jewish values or their family’s Jewish immigrant history.
As we were in the process of writing our letter, we learned that the Welcome with Dignity Coalition was planning a Week of Action against Title 42 and MPP for the week of Nov. 15 and that a group called Doctors for Camp Closure (D4CC) would be organizing an action in DC that week, including hand-delivering any letters or petitions that could be gathered to protest the continuation of anti-asylum policies.
So, we quickly completed our letter and sent it to as many rabbis, other Jewish leaders and Jewish religious and secular organizations that we could identify. Within 10 days, we had gathered 147 signatures from leaders and organizations from all over the country, representing all major Jewish denominations as well as unaffiliated and secular Jewish groups. With this letter, the momentum from leadership in the Jewish community gained strength and speed. And by the time of the DC action on Nov. 19, Welcome with Dignity activists had gathered a total of more than 200,000 signatures from advocates, community members and public health experts collected by our many partners in the immigration justice movement. So our work in the Jewish community became part of something much larger and more powerful.
We sent our letter in any way we could think of: by snail mail, by email (as part of a Nov. 18 email blitz by Welcome with Dignity coalition members), and hand-delivered by Doctors for Camp Closure to members of Senator Schumer’s staff. Unfortunately, with all our efforts and attempts at follow up, we never heard that our letter had been received or read, even by staff of Dr. Walensky and Secretary Mayorkas. We were also not able to get our letter into the press, including Jewish progressive papers that we reached out to.
And so we were discouraged. But each day, we received news of the momentum continuing to build. Just between Thanksgiving and mid-December, after all the letters were delivered in DC, we learned that:
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On Dec. 2, the union representing US asylum officers issued a statement speaking out forcefully against the restarting of MPP and the continuation of Title 42!
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On Dec. 6 an organization of retired immigration judges spoke out against MPP.
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On Dec. 8, T’ruah The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights (a national organization representing 2300 rabbis and cantors) issued a statement opposing the Biden administration’s implementation of any version of MPP/Remain in Mexico.
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On Dec. 17, The Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry (America’s mental health think tank) called for an end to the use of Title 42 to expel asylum seekers at the southern border, placing LGBTIQ asylum seekers in particular danger.
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Also on Dec. 17, 243 organizations (including JAIJ) signed onto a letter to President Biden and Vice President Harris urging them in the strongest terms to stop the inhumane and violent policies toward those seeking asylum.
All of us, as individuals and as groups, must continue building that momentum. Rather than giving in to discouragement, we will take heart from examples of resistance to oppression throughout history, trusting in MLK’s promise that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
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