Thread: Jews against the SAVE Act?

Got this email from NumbersUSA:

Religious Action Center claims immigration enforcement goes against Jewish teaching





Religious Action Center

calls on Congress to stop

the bi-partisan effort to enforce immigration laws through the SAVE Act (H.R. 408



Various national religious agencies have been trumpeting the open borders song. We have asked NumbersUSA members who are affiliated with those groups to make it clear to their national and religious leaders that they have a different sense of ethics and morality on this issue. Thus, we are now coming to those of you who have identified yourselves as Jewish to help counter Jewish open-border agencies.

There is an assumption on Capitol Hill that nearly all American Jews favor open borders and object to enforcement, thanks, in part, to letters like the one the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism recently sent to Congress (see below).

Please send this fax to the Religious Action Center that expresses dismay at their suggestion that the Torah forbids the enforcement of our immigration laws.

Please edit and personalize your fax as much as possible. We are looking for calm language and rational arguments to make sure The Religious Action Center understands that they are taking a simplistic, superficial and misguided look at our immigration crisis.

You may also email Mark Pelavin (the author of the letter below) at: mplavin@rac.org

Click here for our Ethics of Immigration page.

Letter to Congress from Mark Pelavin of the Religious Action Center:

Dear Representative,

On behalf of the Union for Reform Judaism, whose more than 900 congregations across North America encompass 1.5 million Reform Jews, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), whose membership includes more than 1,800 Reform rabbis, I urge you to oppose the Secure America through Verification and Enforcement Act (SAVE Act, H.R. 408.

The SAVE Act would continue the failed status quo immigration policy by throwing millions of dollars at the border without addressing the fundamental issue of the 12 million undocumented immigrants currently in the United States. Spending more money on border security without addressing the underlying reasons for undocumented immigration has clearly not worked.

The SAVE Act would also require all employers to use the flawed Basic Pilot/E-verify program to verify the legal status of its workers. The program relies heavily on the Social Security Administration (SSA) database which—by the SSA's own estimates—includes 17.8 million records containing errors of name, date of birth, or citizenship status. If the SAVE Act is enacted, millions of legal workers, including U.S. citizens, could lose their jobs by mistake. Meanwhile, undocumented immigrants will go further underground, leading to greater exploitation of undocumented workers, lower tax revenues, and the further erosion of wages and working conditions for all. Both our Jewish tradition and our historical experiences lead us to support compassionate immigration policy. The Torah commands, "When strangers sojourn with you in your land, you shall not do them wrong. The strangers who sojourn with you shall be to you as the natives among you, and you shall love them as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt" (Leviticus 19:33-34). As a nation of immigrants, we must remember that it was not too long ago that our own ancestors came to America as strangers in search of freedom and opportunity.

I strongly urge you not to sign on to the bill's discharge petition, which would short-circuit the committee process and bring a fatally flawed bill to the floor.

Sincerely,



Mark Pelavin

Associate Director, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism

I don't know about y'all, but how "compassionate" is Israel with the Palestinians? How about with their own illegal aliens? Oh wait, never mind, they don't have any illegal aliens because their MILITARY patrols the border and Israeli citizens bear ARMS!

What hypocritical hyperbole! The day Israel opens their borders to anyone who wants to enter, then we'll open ours!

Both our Jewish tradition and our historical experiences lead us to support compassionate immigration policy

just that line above from the articles text makes me sit back and go "Hmmm"
It will be interesting to see what stems from this

The Torah does not command me, and, after reading this letter I can state that Israel can no longer count on me for monetary issues.

Well I'm quite sure this religious center would much rather see the border money go to Israel along with the several billion dollars per year we already give them. <eyeroll> See AIPAC.

Originally Posted by miguelina

I don't know about y'all, but how "compassionate" is Israel with the Palestinians? How about with their own illegal aliens? Oh wait, never mind, they don't have any illegal aliens because their MILITARY patrols the border and Israeli citizens bear ARMS!

What hypocritical hyperbole! The day Israel opens their borders to anyone who wants to enter, then we'll open ours!

Israel's immigration policy is one of the most restrictive and mono-cultural in the world.

Originally Posted by alleycat

The Torah does not command me, and, after reading this letter I can state that Israel can no longer count on me for monetary issues.

They don't need you they have the US gov. at their beckon call!!!!

No matter that they spy on us, kill our servicemen, hide their weapons programs and have NO bill of rights!!!

They are the slickest con artists in the world. When the Laraza folks declare some of the Southwest their own "independent state" I wonder if they will be as successful in the "con"???

Both our Jewish tradition and our historical experiences lead us to support compassionate immigration policy

Really? I guess the "Jewish tradition" does not recognize the "wall" that Israel is constructing between Jordan and Israel in order to protect them from Palestinian terriorist. I guess the United States does not have the same right according to some Jewish leaders.

Originally Posted by NoBueno

I guess the "Jewish tradition" does not recognize the "wall" that Israel is constructing between Jordan and Israel in order to protect them from Palestinian terriorist. .

That's not the real reason they're building it. It has to do with stolen land and water....and making sure it remains that way...they can't allow actual democratic process or they will be the minority voters.....but it is the REVERSE of our issue here with "we United States".

I contacted my congressman once again today to sign the Discharge Petition! Let's keep hounding them! We can do this!

BearFlagRepublic Amen!