Rabbi Nate’s remarks at “Defund ICE” interfaith press conference
This past Wednesday, February 4th, Rabbi Nate DeGroot joined over 200 interfaith leaders who gathered at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Detroit, Michigan, for a press conference to speak against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) abuses, calling for increased ICE accountability and decreased DHS funding.
You can view the press conference here, in the video recorded by the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan, or below (Rabbi Nate begins speaking at the 26:13 mark).
Scroll below the video to view the text of Rabbi Nate's remarks.
And as a reminder, next week, on Wednesday, February 11, The Shalom Center is joining T'ruah, Bend the Arc, and over 60 co-sponsoring organizations in supporting Jews Against ICE, a protest action that will make visible the powerful Jewish opposition to ICE’s cruel and destructive immigration enforcement system. More information about Jews Against ICE is at the end of this post.
Text of Rabbi Nate's press conference remarks
Good morning.
My name is Rabbi Nate DeGroot. I direct The Shalom Center and serve congregations in Jackson and Flint. I live in Detroit. I’m honored to be here. And I am dismayed that we must be here.
My first relative to immigrate to this country was a man named Lazarus Levi in 1880. Lazarus was a regal huckster, who worked hard selling feather dusters in Boston, Massachusetts and the surrounding area.
Within my Jewish tradition, my first ancestor to immigrate was Avram, who left his father’s home searching for a better life filled with Divine radiance and free from idol worship.
And within our textual origin story, the very first human, Adam haRishon, Adam, was himself a refugee, the subject of forced migration, being sent from his home of the Garden of Eden to make for himself a better life.
As Jews, we are border crossers. It’s in our name: Ivrim / Hebrews - the ones who cross over.
We are a diasporic people. Mycelial travelers through time and space who - like the spores from which the word is derived - know that borders are human-made, while relationships comprise the One.
A people who repeat thirty-six times in our most sacred text - a commandment repeated more than any other commandment - to love the stranger, because we ourselves were strangers.
And a people who know what happens when Empire convinces its followers to turn against the other. To believe that there is such a thing as “the other.”
It is within this context and history that we are here today, outraged by the abuse we see by ICE against immigrants in Minnesota and beyond, and heaped upon the community members who are putting their lives on the line to protect their immigrant neighbors.
A community that has risen up in non-violent civil disobedience, because they know that “the other” is a bill of goods peddled by a grifting wannabe Pharaoh.
A community that has been inspired into action:
- Organizing food drives to feed immigrant families who no longer feel safe leaving their homes.
- Escorting children to school.
- Passing out whistles and blowing those whistles to alert neighbors of ICE activity.
- Offering protective presence outside of preschools.
- Singing faith and hope and possibility into being.
A massive civil society effort to shield neighbors from state violence.
As people of conscience we know that what ICE is doing in Minneapolis and all across this country is wrong:
- Targeting the easiest people to catch.
- Tearing families apart.
- Detaining children.
- With no regard to citizenship status or criminal activity.
- Arresting people at courthouses who are there to comply with the law.
- Rounding up workers who are simply trying to survive in a broken immigration system.
- Deporting people who this administration has madeundocumented through their own predatory policies.
We are living under the authoritarian rule of an administration built on White, Christian Supremacy. An administration that has been explicit in declaring that this country belongs to them. That wants to cleanse the nation of people they despise.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve begun to see reports that ICE plans to purchase nearly two dozen warehouses across the country to convert into concentration camps.
As Jews, we don’t need a reminder of where this leads.
A number of my colleagues have been asking recently, what would have happened if in the earliest days of Nazi Germany, tens of thousands of people showed up to march and resist the tide of Hitler’s regime? What would have been different if faith leaders from within Germany and beyond would have spoken up publicly, denouncing Aryan supremacy? How would history have shifted if a mass mobilization took root, with boycotts, sit-ins, non-cooperation, and mutual aid at the first sign of Holocaust?
I am here today to stand with my immigrant siblings. To stand shoulder to shoulder with faith leaders and organizers to speak clearly and directly. To play my small but critical part, and invite you all to play your small but critical part, doing what we Jews wish others did for us in our time of great peril. Because we know that while this may be beginning with immigrants, if the administration has its way, it surely won’t stop there. It is up to us to ensure that never again means never again for anybody, now.
Show up, speak out, and let your Senators know – we are not willing to pay for this.
Thank you.
Wednesday, February 11
1:30pm
500 12th St SW, Washington, DC 20024
ICE Headquarters in Washington, DC
No RSVP necessary
ICE is killing civilians, separating families, kidnapping students, and racially profiling and targeting vulnerable communities. As Jews, we know in our bones and through our moral teachings, that this cruelty and injustice must stop.
The Shalom Center is proud to support this protest alongside our friends at T’ruah, Bend the Arc, and other cosponsors listed here.
This rally is part of a larger day of protest for Jewish communities across the country who want to send a clear message: Jewish leaders and the Jewish community completely reject an immigration system that dehumanizes people.
If you are in the DC area or able to travel to DC, you can show up in person to learn, pray, and act together. Over 100 Jewish clergy, leaders of our communities, are coming together from across the country to lead this event. Please bring a shofar if you have one!
If you are not local to DC, you can support this protest online and we can all amplify its message together through social media.
The rally will make visible the powerful Jewish opposition to ICE’s cruel and unfounded immigration enforcement system.
At this protest, we will not only take a moral stand against ICE, we will also hold accountable a corporation responsible for enabling the detention and deportation machine: Signature Aviation, which provides fuel and logistical support for ICE detainee transport flights. We are calling on the leaders of this company to stop enabling and fueling this evil system.
Join us!