Rabbi David Shneyer spoke behind a white banner with “Jews Against ICE” printed in large black letters. He was there, along with hundreds of other Jewish community members, clergy, and allies, to speak up against the tens of thousands of immigrant deportations and arrests around the country. Shneyer’s great aunt and uncle were refused entry into the United States after fleeing Europe in 1924, along with millions of other Jewish immigrants. “Our traditions remind us constantly in our prayers every day that we were an oppressed people at one time,” Shneyer said. “Because of that, we have a special obligation to help those who are being oppressed.”
In a powerful display of Jewish communal resistance to ongoing attacks on immigrants in Maryland and across the country, more than 300 people gathered for a Tisha B’Av Action on Sunday, August 3rd in front of the Baltimore ICE Field Office. Tisha B’Av is the Jewish day of mourning for calamities that have befallen the Jewish people throughout history, the loss of sanctuary, and the casting out of our people into exile from home and family. The current attacks on our immigrant neighbors, family members, and friends in Maryland and across the country resonate deeply with us, and we are called to take action not only in solidarity, but in protection of our shared values as a community.
Since Trump took office in January, ICE arrests have doubled across the country, and more than doubled in Maryland. Many of these arrests, including the wrongful arrest and deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in Maryland, have impacted our local communities. Families are being torn apart, people are being deported unlawfully, and ICE is terrorizing people in their communities. “Places where people like you and me go every day [are being targeted],” Crisaly de los Santos, CASA’s Baltimore and Central Maryland Director, told the crowd at our action, “Where we get our food, where we go to worship. And these are not isolated incidents: this is a strategy to terrify people, to terrify immigrants, to push us into the shadows. For too long, our immigrant community has had to hide.” She went on to explain how people are being locked up without access to food, medicine, and legal representation by ICE at the very building we were gathered in front of.
This is exactly why we saw this outpouring of support from a wide range of Jewish communities and traditions on Tisha B’Av. The event was co-sponsored by 14 local congregations and people came with tallits, kippehs, tefillin, signs, JUFJ shirts, and a shared commitment to resisting these hateful policies and action. Together, we read from the Torah, and related the previous struggles Jews have faced to the ongoing injustices facing immigrants in Maryland. “The stories of expulsion and dispossession and destruction of our homes and our safety are happening not just in the Book of Lamentations, but also in our newspapers and in our headlines,” said Rabbi Ariana Katz to the Baltimore Jewish Times.
Under the scorching heat of the sun we prayed together and demanded concrete actions from our elected officials and community members. Partners from CASA, the DMV Accompaniment Network, and the Stop Avelo Campaign spoke about ways to support immigrant communities. We also hosted an art build at the event, where JUFJers painted signs and banners together. Ryan Harvey, a representative of The Stop Avelo Campaign, took to the mic during our Tisha B’Av action. “ICE funnels a lot of money into private contractors,” he explained. “There’s three main airline companies that do deportations for ICE… and there’s an airline called Avelo that deports people for Donald Trump, for profit. And they have a contract with BWI [airport].” This was met with a resounding boo from the crowd of over 300.
This was more than just a demonstration– it was a united call for the dignified, fair treatment of immigrants in our region and across the country. “This issue is so critical to us as an organization because it’s one that’s deeply bound up with our Jewish values and with our shared history,” said JUFJ’s Maryland Policy Director, Matan Zeimer. “Throughout history, there’s the stories of Jews as migrants, Jews as immigrants, movement of Jews across regions [and] continents, so we know in our own experiences that standing up for immigrant neighbors, our family members and our friends is totally intertwined with fighting for our own safety and justice.”
Crisaly de los Santos’ powerful words stuck with us and have continued to. “[ICE] took our rights away, for [immigrants] to be able to speak up. But we are all speaking up right here…and that is my ask: to show up. To speak up.”
It’s on all of us to support our immigrant neighbors, family members, friends, and communities. Here are some important ways you can get involved with JUFJ and our partners:
✨ Join our next Maryland Strategy & Action Meeting on 9/10, where we’ll discuss how we can build power and protect immigrant rights at the state level.
✨ Help spread the word about CASA’s ICE Raid Tip Hotline (1-888-214-6016), join their Ally Network, and donate to support them as they celebrate 40 years of organizing.
✨ Connect with the DMV Accompaniment Network and join their next training by filling out their interest form.
✨ Join efforts to stop Avelo Airlines from carrying out deportation flights from BWI by signing this petition.
Photos by Joe Magar.
