Friends,
You can pinch yourself, but you won’t wake up. You open your eyes, and it’s still here. The fear, the cruelty, the humiliation on public display.
Our government is telling us not to trust our own eyes, a warning sign for any democracy, and one J Street is ready to confront. They say that ICE’s mission demands hunting down our neighbors. That all of our problems can be blamed on immigrants.
We know where this goes.
As Jewish Americans – and as a community shaped by persecution – our values and our history compel us to speak out when state power is used to terrorize the vulnerable.
Our history includes armed thugs stopping people, demanding papers and disappearing them.
J Street exists because Jewish values demand democracy, accountability and the rule of law – not fear, not scapegoating and not silence. Defending immigrants’ dignity is not separate from that mission. It is that mission.
Standing up for immigrants is standing up for democracy. Join our campaign now for next steps on how to take action »
We’ve seen an ICE agent shoot and kill Renée Good, followed by an authoritarian effort to brand this mother of three as a domestic terrorist.
We’ve seen ICE detain a 5-year-old boy who had just come home from school, tiny in his bright blue winter hat and a superhero backpack nearly bigger than he is. Americans and migrants alike fear showing up to work or schools or courts or hospitals.
We know where this goes.
My family’s story is an immigration story. My grandfather escaped Nazi Germany in 1938. Before my family fled, secret state police hunted political opponents and spread fear until people learned to look away.
Last summer in DC, I watched two masked ICE agents rip a man off his bike on his way to work. They didn't ask him any questions before shoving him into an unmarked truck and driving off to God knows where.
Trump wants neighbors to be suspicious of neighbors. He wants communities to be afraid of communities. That’s how this machinery works. Not all at once, but step by step, until it’s boiling over and cruelty feels normal.
This is exactly the kind of moment J Street was built for – when fear is weaponized and the sanity of our country depends on whether people speak up.
We know where this goes. When violence is justified. When our democracy backslides into authoritarianism.
But we also know something else. Nothing will change unless we work for it.
Right now, you can take action by joining our campaign to demand accountability and an end to ICE’s campaign of fear. Your message will go directly to your Members of Congress. It draws a line. It says we won’t accept this as normal and neither should they.
Sign Now: End ICE’s Fear Campaign
Tell your representatives they must push Trump to rein it in.
After you sign, you’ll get a follow-up message in your inbox with a call script, clear next steps and ways to support people and organizations doing the work on the ground.
For many families already torn apart, it’s too late. For many others, it isn’t.
We know where this goes. And we know we must act.
With urgency,
Eliza Schloss
Content Strategist and Producer, J Street
