Jews speaking out on Arizona

by: Jeremy Burton

Mon Apr 26, 2010 at 10:08:00 AM EDT

As outrage over the new Arizona profiling and detention law continues to grow, Congregation Ikar in Los Angeles has organized this petition for Jews who want to speak out as Jews on this issue.

In part, and from the place of Jewish history:

We also remember those who found themselves trapped in Europe by racist immigration quotas implemented in our country in 1924. We recall the overwhelming refusal of the free world to accept Jewish refugees from Europe in the years leading up to World War II. And we recently campaigned to free our cousins in the Soviet Union, suffering under a totalitarian regime.

Our history compels us to identify with and support those who have sought a better life in the U.S. As Jews, we cannot stand idly by when we see immigrant parents separated from their children, undocumented youth who are unable to go to college, immigrant workers who are threatened with exploitation if they work, and with deportation if they protest.

Sign the petition here, read the full message after the jump.

An open letter to President Obama and our Senators and Representatives in Congress:

We Jews are children of the Exodus. In ancient times, our community was forged in response to the memory of brutality in the land of Egypt and the march to a better world. More recently, American Jews share a history of leaving an Old World of hardship and prejudice for a land of hope and opportunity.

We recall the painful struggle that our grandparents and great-grandparents underwent to win labor rights, decent wages, and access to jobs, housing, and education. We know how difficult it was for them to leave their places of birth, and the frustrations of navigating a society in which they lacked fluency.

We also remember those who found themselves trapped in Europe by racist immigration quotas implemented in our country in 1924. We recall the overwhelming refusal of the free world to accept Jewish refugees from Europe in the years leading up to World War II. And we recently campaigned to free our cousins in the Soviet Union, suffering under a totalitarian regime.

Our history compels us to identify with and support those who have sought a better life in the U.S. As Jews, we cannot stand idly by when we see immigrant parents separated from their children, undocumented youth who are unable to go to college, immigrant workers who are threatened with exploitation if they work, and with deportation if they protest.

We are especially compelled by our sense of being a "stranger in a strange land." The Torah calls on us to love the stranger in our midst. As the "other," Jews have repeatedly experienced ostracism, discrimination, expulsion, and violence. Our historical experience obliges us to stand up for immigrant families who suffer daily intimidation, derision, rage, and populist resentment.

Thus, as American Jews we call on our leaders in government to actively support humane reform of our immigration laws. We insist that undocumented individuals living in our communities and working hard to contribute to our economy and society be allowed a path to legalization of their status. We urge our public servants to reform our laws and practices so that we aren’t forcibly breaking up hundreds of thousands of families every year. We support the rights of undocumented people in America to due process and worker’s protections, and the dreams of their children to pursue the educational, cultural, and economic opportunities that America represents. We demand that the status quo of fear, discrimination, and marginalization be replaced by a system that is tolerable and humane. We do so in accordance with our deepest values as Americans and as bearers of our Jewish heritage.