10 Rabbis are Visiting Separated Families on the Border

Central American asylum seekers wait as U.S. Border Patrol agents take them into custody near McAllen, Texas, June 12, 2018. (John Moore/Getty Images)

NEW YORK (JTA) — A group of 10 rabbis has traveled to Texas to examine detention facilities for separated families on the U.S.-Mexico border.

The group, which is aiming to visit the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Centralized Processing Center on June 21, includes rabbis from all four major Jewish religious movements and is part of a larger delegation of 40 interdenominational clergy. The group also includes Catholic, Protestant and Muslim leaders.

The clergy are at the border to protest the policy of separating families that crossed into the United States illegally. More than 2,000 children have been separated from their parents since the policy was instituted in early May.

Following widespread outcry, including from a broad range of Jewish groups, President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Wednesday stating that families who cross the border illegally will be detained together.

Rabbi Jill Jacobs, executive director of the liberal rabbinic human rights group T’ruah, is on the delegation and said Trump’s executive order Wednesday was “chutzpahdik” — a Yiddish word that means galling.

“We want to see the conditions there, come back, report to our communities and mobilize our religious communities to stop these policies separating children and families,” Jacobs told JTA. “At most, the executive order means that children will be imprisoned with their parents, which is inhumane and a violation of international law.”

You May Also Like
Sandra R. Berman Center for Humanity, Tolerance & Holocaust Education Dedicated at Towson University

The center's mission is to promote education on humanity, tolerance and the Shoah to highlight the dangers of bigotry and intolerance.

Orioles Sale to David Rubenstein Group Approved by Major League Baseball
David Rubenstein

The product of a blue-collar Jewish family, the Baltimore-born Rubenstein, 74, is a multi-billionaire lawyer, businessman and philanthropist.

Two Orthodox Men Attacked in Northwest Baltimore While Walking to Synagogue
Mt. Washington

Baltimore County Police and Shomrim are searching for a black Kia Optima with the license plate 4BA3705.

Manischewitz Announces Rebranding of its Product Line
Manischewitz

The rebranding of the nation's leading kosher brand comes shortly before the start of the Festival of Freedom.