June 15, 2018

The challenges posed by illegal immigration into the United States are complex and numerous. Considerations stemming from national security, the general rule of law, and the impact of the undocumented upon local economies, vie with the traditional American values of humanitarianism and compassion, and our proud national self-image of being a welcoming land of opportunity. Without doubt, the complexity and magnitude of the issue have contributed to the legislative gridlock on immigration that has characterized the past two decades.

At no point though, should our country’s frustration over its inability to address immigration through comprehensive legislation, lead us into policies that are cruel or immoral. It is with great distress, therefore, that we watch and read about new Department of Justice policies that are leading to routine separation of children from their parents at the U.S. border. We are similarly deeply concerned about this apparent attempt to use the unfathomable pain of family separation as a strategy for discouraging migration. The Torah forbids tearing chicks or even eggs away from a mother bird sitting on its nest. How much more so must we look upon tearing human children from their parents as an absolute wrong, never to be inflicted, no matter what the objective. 

We call upon the Department of Justice to cease and desist from this practice, in the name of God, morality, and the American way.