Background:
The subjects of immigration, the treatment of undocumented residents living within national borders and the absorption of refugees are highly politically charged issues in our time. The developed and economically privileged countries of North America and Europe are questioning how to balance the obligations of social responsibility with national security and economic justice for citizens.
Although the Jewish communities of North America are living in an era of unprecedented success and security, we remain acutely sensitive to our own immigrant and refugee experiences. Ours is a history of moving from place to place searching for a better future for our children. At best, we have voluntarily travelled to new lands in hope of opportunity. At worst, we have fled bigotry, pogroms and genocide. Often, we have encountered the challenges of integrating into a new society and practicing a minority faith.
As we try to understand the complexities of refugee politics, immigration economics and security from terrorism, we are guided by the immutable values of Torah and Talmud.
Whereas, Judaism requires of us that we not be bystanders in the face of injustice: “Do not stand by your neighbor’s blood.” (Leviticus 19:16) And further, that we have an obligation of Tikun Olam. (To fix the world)
Whereas, The Torah repeats 36 times the tenet that we must treat the strangers in our land with empathy and love them as we love ourselves. (Leviticus 19:33-34)
Whereas, We are encouraged to identify with the immigrant experience in that we remember our ancestors who were strangers in the land of Egypt and who went forth into a new land. (Exodus 13:8; Mishnah Pesachim 10:5)
Whereas, Judaism requires universal respect for human life declaring that humanity is created in God’s image. (Genesis 1:27) And the Talmud explains that even a single life is so valued that “he who saves one life saves the entire world.” (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5)
Therefore, be it resolved that Women’s League for Conservative Judaism believes:
Nations have a right to secure borders and an obligation to protect citizens from violence. This truth, however, should not be used to excuse bigotry.
Our community should support immigration and refugee laws and policies that are consistent with an inclusive and humane vision free from religious, racial and cultural prejudice.
We should advocate for swift responses to the needs of refugees. And, we should work to provide shelter and security to all people fleeing violence and persecution without regard to religion, race or color.
We should advocate for the empathetic treatment of those undocumented people living within our borders, so that no otherwise law-abiding person should live in fear of the law enforcement or of the disruption of families.
The US is embarking on a large scale change in its immigration laws. Some anti-immigration forces have linked the so-called “crisis” of undocumented immigrants with the 9 /11 terrorist attack. In December 2005, the House passed the Sensenbrenner-King Bill.
(HB 4437). This bill would automatically make eleven million undocumented immigrants ‘felons.’ It would fine or jail hundreds of thousands of US citizens who employ them and would put millions of other Americans who help them behind bars as ‘alien smugglers.’ On May 1, 2006 millions of immigrants and their allies marched in cities around the country against this bill.
Comprehensive Immigration Reform entails addressing the following issues: What should we do about future flows of undocumented immigrants? How should we address family blacklogs? What can we do to bring the approximately eleven million undocumented residents out of the shadow economy and into productive legal status? What can we do about border security and immigration enforcement?
We support the government’s efforts to enforce the rule of law and protect our national security interests. However, we also recognize that our existing complex and unworkable immigration system has made it nearly impossible for many immigrants who seek to support their families or to reunite with loved ones to achieve legal status.
Reforming the immigration system to address this reality would allow the US government to focus its enforcement efforts on real threats that face all Americans, citizens and immigrants alike.
We urge our elected officials to conduct the immigration reform debate in a civil and respectful manner.
Women’s League for Conservative Judaism resolves:
Women’s League for Conservative Judaism supports the Refugee Act of 1980,* which more equitably and humanely responds to the growing waves of immigration. Women’s League urges the Federal Government to assume full responsibility for funding and for social and cultural integration of immigrants, with the consent and cooperation of local communities. The burden of future immigration should not be borne by any one community.
*The Refugee Act of 1980 is the first major immigration law reform since 1965.
It defines refugees as persons forced to leave their home countries or being persecuted or fearing persecution within their home countries because of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. (Persons who themselves have engaged in persecutions are excluded.)
It rises from 17,400 to 50,000 the number of refugees allowed into the United States each year, and empowers the President to increase the quota, if conditions warrant, after consultation with Congress.
It admits refugees, as refugees, and gives them lawful permanent resident status after one year from date of arrival as refugees in the United States.
National Women’s League reaffirms its opposition to our present discriminatory Immigration and Nationality Act. We call upon the Congress of the United States to eliminate the unsound, unjust and undemocratic national origins quota system upon which the present law is based. The McCarran Walter law, as it now stands, belies and dishonors the American respect for human equality and gives a false image of United States principles to the peoples of the world.
In a special message to Congress last summer, the late President Kennedy urged the abolition of the national origins quota system. President Johnson, in his State of the Union message, also urged the revision of our Immigration Law. Vigorous White House leadership, bipartisan support by 37 Senators and the expression of community sentiment, should spur toward enactment the Bills S. 1932 and H. 7700, now before Congress.
National Women’s League therefore:
“Ye shall have one manner of law as well for the stranger as for the home-born.” – Leviticus 24:22
National Women’s League has consistently asserted its opposition to our present discriminatory immigration laws. We reaffirm our position and call upon the 88th Congress for amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 to:
In the 87th Congress, Senator Philip A. Hart (D. Mich.) introduced a bill co-sponsored by twenty-six Senators of both parties, to remove our racist quota system. This was a major step in emphasizing to the world, United States philosophy and practice as a free and democratic nation.
National Women’s League will continue to interpret America’s stake in an equitable immigration policy and cooperate with other like-minded organizations to liberalize the McCarran-Walter Immigration Law.
National Women’s League therefore:
“Ye shall have one manner of law as well for the stranger as for the home-born.” – Leviticus 24:22
Eight years have passed since the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (McCarran-Walter Law). The Republican and Democratic parties pledged themselves in their platforms to revise the law substantially. Studies by the White House, State Department and Congressional Committees have exposed the exclusionist, discriminatory and unnecessarily restrictive and harsh provision of the law. President Eisenhower and President Truman have emphasized the conflict between this law and the democratic values and enlightened self-interest of the United States.
Although bills for thorough overhauling of our Immigration policy have been introduced in past years, Congress has restricted itself to minor patchwork revision of stop-gap refugee legislation.
Therefore, National Women’s League calls upon the 87th Congress to fulfill the pledges made by both parties in their platforms;
National Women’s League will continue to inform and interpret America’s stake in an equitable Immigration policy and cooperate with other like-mined organizations to liberalize the McCarran-Walter Immigration Law.
We call upon the President to assert the leadership of his great office in behalf of the enactment of such legislation.
We urge our affiliated Sisterhoods to enlist support of their Senators and Congressmen for such legislation.
“Ye shall have one manner of law as well as for the stranger as for the home-born.” – Leviticus 24:22
National Women’s League deplores the fact that despite repeated pledges by both political parties and reiterated commitments by the Administration during the past six years to bring about basic reforms in our current national immigration policies, there has been no determined effort to redeem these pledges.
We recognize that there have been special acts passed for the benefit of refugees, and applaud these humanitarian laws. However, these measures have been in the nature of emergency legislation and do not deal with the much needed liberalization of our immigration policies. The Immigration and Nationality Acts of 1952 (McCarran-Walter Law) is discriminatory and restrictive, reflecting an attitude unbecoming to our great nation. The national origins quota system, with its racist exclusions; the unnecessarily harsh deportation provisions; the inequitable distinctions in favor of native-born over naturalized citizens, engender doubts among the peoples of the world as to the sincerity of our democratic professions.
We therefore call upon the 86th Congress to enact legislation which, in keeping with the absorptive capacity and the welfare of our nation, will indeed reflect the true spirit of our country’s greatness by welcoming peoples to our shores on a non-discriminatory basis.
We call upon the President to assert the leadership of his great office in behalf of the enactment of such legislation.
We urge our affiliated Sisterhoods to enlist support of their Senators and Congressmen for legislation to humanize the present immigration law of our country.
“Ye shall have one manner of law as well for the stranger as for the home-born.” – Leviticus 24:22
National Women’s League deplores the failure of the U.S. Congress to eliminate the restrictive, discriminatory provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (McCarran-Walter Law), which has been denounced by many religious and civic groups and by Presidents Truman and Eisenhower.
We urge the 85th Congress to enact amendments which will revise it as follows:
We urge the United States Senate to ratify the Genocide Convention and the various human rights covenants.
“Ye shall have one manner of law as well for the stranger as for the home-born.” – Leviticus 24:22
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (McCarran-Walter Law) contravenes the basic principles of individual dignity, racial equality and human brotherhood, which are the keystones of our American democratic heritage. The law is discriminatory, arbitrary and restrictive. It makes a distinction and discriminates between the native born and the naturalized American citizen. Its implementation has aroused resentment on the part of affected foreign nations.
National Women’s League calls upon President Eisenhower to assert his leadership in behalf of the revision of the McCarran-Walter Law in keeping with his statements that the law is “discriminatory” and must be “re-written.” We call upon the 84th Congress to enact legislation which will bring American immigration and citizenship policies into harmony with American concepts of justice.
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” – Emma Lazarus
“And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your Land, Ye shall not do him wrong.” – Leviticus 19:3
WHEREAS, the National Women’s League of the United Synagogue had persistently worked for the defeat of the McCarran-Walter Immigration Bill before it became a law, because of the undue hardships that would ensue there from, and because of its racist and discriminatory character and
WHEREAS, our attitude is reflected in President Truman’s Veto message when he stated: “It is utterly unworthy of our (U.S.) traditions and our ideals; it violates the great political doctrine of the Declaration of Independence, that all men are created equal…It repudiates our basic religious concepts, our belief in the brotherhood of man…Indeed, the Bill, taking all its provisions together, would be a step backward and not a step forward. We should undertake a reassessment of our immigration policies and practices in the light of the conditions that face us.”
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that National Women’s League of the United Synagogue urge Congress to repeal this restrictive Immigration and Nationality Act and to enact a more liberal law which will eliminate completely the racist concept of the national origins quota system and will insure an immigration and naturalization policy that is fair, humane and in consonance with American ideals.
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