Take Action and Add Your Name: Wisconsin Jews Say Never Again Is Now and Demand Dignity, Safety, and Freedom at our Borders and in Every Community

WHAT THE U.S. GOVERNMENT IS DOING AT THE BORDER AND WHAT ICE IS DOING IN COMMUNITIES ACROSS WISCONSIN IS NOTHING SHORT OF A MASS ATROCITY.

At our border, children are being separated from their families and imprisoned. Others, fleeing for their safety to this country, like many of our Jewish ancestors before us, are dying on the harrowing journey here. And in our communities, ICE raids are increasing in frequency and severity, spreading fear and panic across Wisconsin.

AS JEWS, WE’VE SEEN THIS BEFORE. AND AS JEWS LIVING IN WISCONSIN, WE HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO STAND AGAINST IT AND TO PROTECT OUR NEIGHBORS.

We refuse to wait and see — we know from our own history what happens next.

Our faith holds that every separated family — every raid in a place of worship, factory, community, or public place, and every life lost on our border, in the desert, in camps, and at detention centers — is a tragedy beyond measure. We are taught that every life destroyed is as if we have destroyed an entire world.

And our history warns of the dangers of this moment. Right now, the U.S. Government is creating the machinery, climate, and rationale for a mass deportation force the likes of which we have seen before.

Our government officials and its allied media regularly issue racist, dehumanizing, and frightening language about an entire people.

Our government has separated families and opened camps on the border with inhumane conditions, all in violation of international law.

Our government has further radicalized its domestic security force, ICE, which conducts what it calls “mass raids” on American soil.

And our government relies on a network of local law enforcement to be the cogs in its machine, creating the network and infrastructure necessary for the familiar and frightening mass deportation force Jews have seen before.

NEVER AGAIN IS NOW.

We know how the horrors of the 1940s relied on our non-Jewish neighbors to do nothing, to stay silent, to feed the machine, to follow orders, to turn a blind eye. And we find ourselves ourselves now in that role.

This is our moment of truth. Will we raise our voices and put our bodies on the line? When we say “never again,” will we ensure that we mean “never again” for all people, or just our own?

ADD YOUR NAME TO JOIN THE GROWING JEWISH MOVEMENT FOR IMMIGRANT JUSTICE IN WISCONSIN AND ACROSS OUR COUNTRY

Note: Your name will not appear publicly as signers of the letter but will be used to create a network of contacts of Jews and allies who care about immigrant justice. We are a group of individuals, not representing any organizations, who have come together under this umbrella of Jews for Immigrant Justice to mobilize and connect with actions related to the Never Again actions that are popping up in cities across the nation.

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