Central Conference of American Rabbis Resolution on Immigration & Due Process

April 22, 2026

Background

From the very beginning of our people’s story, we have been wanderers. Since God commanded Abraham to “Lech l’cha,” “Go forth to a land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1), the Jewish people has crossed borders and sought new beginnings, carrying with us the memory of every place we’ve been and the hope that each new land might offer safety and dignity. We know the heart of the immigrant, for it is hardwired into our experience as Jews.

Time and again, our Torah reminds us to welcome the stranger, for we ourselves were strangers in the land of Egypt: “The strangers who reside with you shall be to you as your citizens; you shall love each one as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Leviticus 19:34). Our tradition obligates us to care for the well-being of the immigrant, the sojourner among us, alongside our neighbors. We are motivated by compassion, moral obligation, theological imperative, the prophetic call to the pursuit of justice, as well as lived experience.

We who have known intimately the highs and lows of the North American immigration system, at times to our own severe detriment, understand the consequences of immigration policies that ignore our shared humanity, that prioritize quotas and perceived threats to national security over human dignity and life. In the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, restrictive American immigration policies prevented European Jews from finding safety and refuge at a time when they desperately needed it, including turning away many who reached America, such as in the tragic case of the MS St. Louis, forcing them to return to persecution, violence, and often death. The resulting loss of life underscores for us the necessity for immigration and border policies that prioritize the well-being of all who search for opportunity and safety on these shores, a lesson painfully learned not only by us, but by countless others throughout American history.

Indeed, the nation’s history is pockmarked by moments when fear and prejudice eclipsed justice, causing immeasurable harm to vulnerable communities. We recall the Chinese Exclusion Act,[1] which codified discrimination into law and barred an entire people from entry; the Fugitive Slave Act[2] and the Dred Scott decision,[3] which denied Black Americans their most fundamental rights and subjected countless individuals to violence, exploitation, and the stripping away of personhood; and the shameful mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, upheld in Korematsu,[4] a stark reminder of how swiftly civil liberties can be abandoned. Each of these failures stands as a warning: When we forsake fairness, due process, and compassion, lives are shattered, communities are traumatized, and the moral fabric of the nation is torn.

In our own day, due in part to bipartisan failures over many decades to reform the broken US immigration system, continued violations of due process are committed and sanctioned by the federal government in the name of immigration reform and border security. While every nation has the responsibility to establish immigration policies and maintain secure borders, we reject the rampant stoking of fear and anti-immigrant sentiment that dehumanizes our neighbors and undermines the values of justice and compassion.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—acting through entities that include Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—is carrying out raids with dangerous, violent, sweeping authority, often in ways that civil rights organizations warn disregard basic procedural protections and disproportionately target communities of color.[5] Reports of individuals being stopped because they speak Spanish, live in certain neighborhoods, or appear to belong to a particular ethnic group,[6] reflect a disturbing pattern of racialized enforcement that has no place in a nation committed to equal protection under the law.

Jewish tradition holds equal protection under the law as a foundational value as well. As we read in Leviticus 24:22: “You shall have one standard for stranger and citizen alike.” Motivated by the teachings of our Torah, we affirm that targeted, racialized enforcement is not only an abrogation of American values and a clear violation of the United States Constitution’s 5th and 14th amendments,[7] it is a transgression of our Jewish religious values and moral obligation to our human family. All of humanity are children of God and should be treated with parity and respect.

Meanwhile, executive actions have twisted long-standing legal standards—or ignored them outright[8]—to justify punitive detention practices[9] and rushed proceedings[10] that leave immigrants without meaningful access to counsel or fair hearings.[11]

Over one million immigrants who entered the United States through legal pathways have been capriciously stripped of their legal status,[12] throwing those individuals acting on good faith and following the federal government’s own immigration rules and protocols into chaos and confusion.

There are countless reports of law-abiding permanent residents, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, visa holders, and US citizens who have been caught-up in immigration raids.[13] These individuals have been arrested, detained, and in at least one case, deported.[14] While the Department of Homeland Security has stated that its goal is to target “criminal aliens,”[15] its actions suggest a broad and indiscriminate approach that has ensnared and harmed many law-abiding individuals.

Furthermore, rather than deporting “criminal aliens” to their home countries, often the Administration has, instead, sent them to third-party countries,[16] including those with well-documented histories of human rights abuses such as El Salvador,[17] South Sudan,[18] and Uzbekistan.[19] Those who remain in Immigration custody are often treated inhumanely[20] or subjected to disciplinary actions that violate their human rights and threaten their lives.[21] Their families and advocates are concerned about their safety as they remain in detention.

Threats to deploy military forces into urban areas[22] in the name of immigration enforcement raise alarms about how easily such tools could be turned against any community the government disfavors. Too often, immigrants are treated as a testing ground for tactics that erode civil liberties for everyone.

The border itself has been turned into a political weapon, where the language of “security” is used to stoke fear, demonize newcomers,[23] and consolidate executive power.[24]

The US Supreme Court, purportedly the ultimate protector of due process and individual freedoms and the check on executive overreach, has not reliably defended precedent and process. In recent decisions including Trump v J.G.G.,[25] Riley v Bondi,[26] and DHS v D.V.D.,[27] the Court has granted the executive branch broad latitude to enforce immigration law with minimal due process, as the President sees fit, overruling well-reasoned district and circuit courts’ rulings,[28] often with little explanation.[29]

In our most recent resolution on Immigration (2006),[30] the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) resolved, in part, that it:

1. Affirms that the United States is a nation of laws, which must be enforced and respected in order to maintain a civil society. At the same time, we expect that—especially in a Constitutional republic founded on principles of human dignity—the laws in question must be both just and equitable.

2. Condemns the punitive enforcement-only approach to [undocumented] residents that would result in deportations without access to a fair process that considers the circumstances of the individual or that co-opts the use of local law enforcement to meet federal INS[31] obligations.

3. Commits itself to advocacy for an immigration law that will not only improve border security and immigration law enforcement, but will also provide for guest workers and for a just and fair path to citizenship for those now in the country without legal documentation.


Resolution

Whereas the United States has the right and responsibility to establish and enforce immigration laws that safeguard its national security; and

Whereas America has a long legacy of being an immigrant nation, proudly welcoming and affirming the many strengths and rich differences new neighbors can bring; and

Whereas the Jewish community has known first-hand the virulent dangers of anti-immigrant legislation and fear and hatred of “the other;” and

Whereas Jewish tradition teaches the moral obligation to welcome the stranger, the imperative to treat citizen and stranger alike, and the paramount import of a legal code, fairly and judiciously applied; and

Whereas the United States’ body of law affirms the rule of law, due process, and equal protection under the law, and provides for legal pathways for entry and settlement; and

Whereas immigrants are being vilified with dehumanizing, xenophobic rhetoric and the prejudicial specter of the “lawless, criminal interloper;” and

Whereas American DHS agents violently round up immigrants en masse for deportation without due process or attention paid to their inalienable rights as human beings; and

Whereas the Administration is using the abhorrent acts of a few individuals to justify wholesale changes to American immigration policy, impacting millions of law-abiding US residents; and

Whereas the US Supreme Court has shown a willingness to facilitate mass deportations precisely at a time when we would have hoped for it to stand-up against Administration overreach.

Therefore, be it resolved that the Central Conference of American Rabbis:

  • Affirms the Torah’s call to “welcome the stranger” and our shared moral imperative to center justice, safety, and compassion as the guiding values of the nation, rather than fear, hate, and xenophobia.
  • Condemns DHS raids, including by masked ICE and CBP officers, lacking identification and engaging in violence that foment terror and discord among our neighbors.
  • Opposes immigration enforcement activities in or near sensitive locations, including houses of worship, hospitals, and schools, except in exigent circumstances, and supports the expansion of protections to other sensitive locations that are essential to daily life.
  • Is appalled by the inhumane treatment of those held in Immigration custody and detention.
  • Denounces deportations without due process procedures and affirms the paramount import of the rule of law and the protection of our civil liberties.
  • Decries policies that deport residents, including those with only minor infractions, to third-party countries with rampant human-rights abuses, often places to which they have no meaningful ties, in ways that may exceed congressional authorization and far surpass the clear intent of the law.
  • Dedicates itself to championing immigration legislation that strengthens border security and enforcement while expanding opportunities for legal immigration and asylum, establishing an equitable pathway to citizenship for those living in the country without legal documentation, and reforming antiquated legal processes to create a more sustainable, humane, and just means of entry and pursuit of the American Dream.
  • Commits to speaking out and taking action against xenophobic and racially discriminatory actions that seek to target specific immigrant communities based on language, race, ethnicity, religion, or country of origin.
  • Calls on the communities we serve to stand firm in our shared commitment to welcoming the stranger and to join us in advocating for legislation and policy that balances our need for security with our sacred calling to compassionate, humane welcome of the other.
  • Reaffirms the entirety of our 2006 Resolution on Immigration, including, “opposing, in the strongest terms, any effort to restrict the citizenship rights of those born in this country.”
  1. National Archives. (2023, January 17). Chinese Exclusion Act (1882). National Archives: Milestone Documents, https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/chinese-exclusion-act. ↑
  2. National Archives. (2022, May 10). Compromise of 1850 (1850). National Archives: Milestone Documents, https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/compromise-of-1850?_ga=2.249538311.1200987303.1768594370-1343748815.1735684125. ↑
  3. National Archives. (2025, April 21). Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857). National Archives: Milestone Documents, https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/dred-scott-v-sandford. ↑
  4. United States Courts. (n.d.) Facts and Case Summary—Korematsu v. U.S. https://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/educational-resources/annual-observances/asian-pacific-american-heritage-month/korematsu-v-us-balancing-liberties-and-safety/facts-and-case-summary-korematsu-v-us. ↑
  5. American Civil Liberties Union. (n.d.) ICE and Border Patrol Abuses. Immigrants’ Rights, https://www.aclu.org/issues/immigrants-rights/ice-and-border-patrol-abuses. ↑
  6. American Civil Liberties Union. (2026, January 15). ACLU Sues Federal Government to End ICE, CBP’s Practice of Suspicionless Stops, Warrantless Arrests, and Racial Profiling of Minnesotans. Press Releases, https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-sues-federal-government-to-end-ice-cbps-practice-of-suspicionless-stops-warrantless-arrests-and-racial-profiling-of-minnesotans, ↑
  7. Strauss, P. (2022, October). Due Process. Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/due_process. ↑
  8. Castillo, A.; Savage, D.G.; Wilner, M. (2025, September 9). Critics fault Supreme Court for allowing immigration stops that consider race and ethnicity. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2025-09-09/critics-fault-supreme-court-for-allowing-immigration-stops-that-consider-race-ethnicity. ↑
  9. American Civil Liberties Union. (2025, December 17). Inside an ICE Detention Center: Detained People Describe Severe Medical Neglect, Harrowing Conditions. ACLU Oregon, https://www.aclu-or.org/news/inside-an-ice-detention-center-detained-people-describe-severe-medical-neglect-harrowing-conditions/. ↑
  10. Cavazos, N.; Montoya-Galvez, C. (2025, May 23). ICE ending migrants’ court cases in order to arrest and move to deport them. CBS News, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ice-ending-migrants-court-cases-arrest-move-to-deport-them/. ↑
  11. Singh, S. (2025, October 20). Oregon Immigrant Rights Groups Sue ICE Over Denied Access to Counsel. VisaVerge, https://www.visaverge.com/news/oregon-immigrant-rights-groups-sue-ice-over-denied-access-to-counsel/. ↑
  12. Yenigun, S. (Executive Producer). (2025, December 22). Consider This: How the Trump administration stripped legal status from 1.6 million immigrants. [Audio podcast]. NPR, https://www.npr.org/2025/12/22/nx-s1-5652134/how-the-trump-administration-stripped-legal-status-from-1-6-million-immigrants. ↑
  13. Blumenthal, R. (2025, December 9). Unchecked Authority: Examining the Trump Administration’s Extrajudicial Immigration Detentions of U.S. Citizens. Minority Staff Report to United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025.12.8_ICE-Report-revised-FINAL.pdf. ↑
  14. Danner, C. (2025, May 3). All the U.S. Citizens Who’ve Been Caught Up in Trump’s Immigration Crackdown. New York Magazine: Intelligencer, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/tracking-us-citizens-children-detained-deported-ice-trump-updates.html. ↑
  15. United States Department of Homeland Security. (2026, January 20). DHS Sets the Stage for Another Historic, Record-Breaking Year Under President Trump, https://www.dhs.gov/news/2026/01/20/dhs-sets-stage-another-historic-record-breaking-year-under-president-trump. ↑
  16. American Civil Liberties Union. (2025, December 8). Human Rights Groups Urge ICE to End Immigration Detention at Fort Bliss Military Base, Halt Abusive Third-Country Deportations. Press Releases, https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/human-rights-groups-urge-ice-to-end-immigration-detention-at-fort-bliss-military-base-halt-abusive-third-country-deportations. ↑
  17. United States Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. (2025, August). El Salvador 2024 Human Rights Report. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2024, https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/624521_EL-SALVADOR-2024-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf. ↑
  18. United States Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. (2025, July). South Sudan 2024 Human Rights Report. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2024, https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/624521_SOUTH-SUDAN-2024-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf. ↑
  19. United States Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. (2025, July). Uzbekistan 2024 Human Rights Report. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2024, https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/624521_UZBEKISTAN-2024-HUMAN-RIGHTS-REPORT.pdf. ↑
  20. Baker, J. E; LeBus, M.; Schaffer, M. (2025, December 18). ICE supervisor accused of putting woman in chokehold now faces federal indictment. Fox19 Now. https://www.fox19.com/2025/12/19/ice-supervisor-accused-putting-woman-chokehold-now-faces-federal-indictment/ ↑

  21. MacMillan, D. (2026, January 16). Medical examiner likely to classify death of ICE detainee as homicide, recorded call says. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2026/01/15/ice-detention-death-homicide/↑

  22. Kim, J.; Wise, A. (2026, January 15). Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act (again). What is it? NPR, https://www.npr.org/2026/01/15/nx-s1-5678612/minneapolis-insurrection-act-trump-threats. ↑
  23. Wolf, Z. (2025, December 11). The Civil Rights law that Stephen Miller says ruined America. CNN Politics. https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/11/politics/stephen-miller-trump-immigration-law-somalia ↑
  24. Altman, H. (2025, June 9). Trump’s Authoritarian Playbook. National Immigration Law Center,,. https://www.nilc.org/resources/trumps-authoritarian-playbook/. ↑
  25. Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, et. al. v. J.G.G., et al., No. 24A931 (2025), https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a931_2c83.pdf ↑
  26. Riley v. Bondi, No. 23-1270. (2025). https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-1270_6j37.pdf. ↑
  27. Department of Homeland Security, et al., v. D.V.D., et al., No. 24A1153 (2025, https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a1153_l5gm.pdf. ↑
  28. Schonfeld, Z. (2025, September 9). Supreme Court’s scant explanations in Trump emergency cases draw friction. The Hill, https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5492199-supreme-court-emergency-decisions-trump/. ↑
  29. The Brennan Center for Justice. (2025, December 23). Supreme Court Shadow Docket Tracker—Challenges to Trump Administration Actions. Research and Reports, https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/supreme-court-shadow-docket-tracker-challenges-trump-administration. ↑
  30. Central Conference of American Rabbis Resolutions Committee. (2006, June). Immigration Reform. CCAR, https://www.ccarnet.org/ccar-resolutions/immigration-reform/. ↑
  31. Immigration and Naturalization Service. ↑
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