SCOTTSDALE — The Arizona Jewish community is rallying to support immigrant rights almost a week after President Donald Trump took office and shook up Washington.
The rally only lasted 30 minutes in Scottsdale, but they are hoping the message will last even longer.
Arizona Jews for Justice is joining in on the pushback against new, stricter illegal immigrant policies.
“From the Holocaust, we learned what could happen when systems are put in place that cultivate fear and hate and dehumanization,” said Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz, the founder of Arizona Jews for Justice.
About 25 people gathered on the corner of Scottsdale Road and Thunderbird speaking out their truth: what they see as an attack against justice and human dignity.
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“Hoping to better your life is a human right, and our young people, our children should not live in fear of what tomorrow might hold for them,” said Aliento Leadership Development Coordinator Lupe Reynoso.
A recent Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey shows half of US adults think beefing up border security should be a high priority for the federal government. The vast majority, the survey suggests, favor deporting immigrants convicted of violent crimes.
But these rally-goers believe more people could be impacted.
“There’s a misunderstanding and a misconception that immigrants are here and causing crime and running rampant when in reality, these are established American people,” said Reynoso.
Compassion and inclusion, they say, is the only way forward.
“Jews, for thousands of years now, have lived as second-class citizens at best, as refugees, as immigrants, as wanderers who are not protected. We know from our history and we know from our texts the mandate to protect,” said Yanklowitz.
