Nearly 70 Jewish clergy members back immigrant protections legislation

OPINION

As Jewish clergy serving communities across New Jersey, we write in strong support of a new three-bill immigrant protection package introduced into the New Jersey General Assembly on January 2, 2026. These bills are the Safe Communities Act (A6308); the Privacy Protection Act (A6309); and the Strengthening Trust Between Law Enforcement and Immigrant Communities Act (A6310). If enacted, this bill package will be vital legislation that upholds human dignity, strengthens public safety, and safeguards the trust between immigrant families and the public institutions that serve them.

New Jersey is experiencing immoral federal civil immigration enforcement.

In 2025 alone, ICE conducted warrantless raids in Newark and Woodbridge, detaining undocumented residents and U.S. citizens, including a military veteran and mothers of school-aged children. That same year, GEO Group reopened Delaney Hall in Newark under an ICE contract. A lawful congressional oversight visit to the facility led to charges against Rep. LaMonica McIver and the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. In December, Jean Wilson Brutus, a 41-year-old man held at Delaney Hall, died after a reported medical emergency in custody.

Federal authorities also approved plans to detain up to 3,000 immigrants at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst and, according to The Washington Post, to expand detention to as many as 80,000 people nationwide, including a proposed site in Roxbury, New Jersey.

As a result, many immigrant families now live in fear that ordinary interactions with schools, hospitals, shelters, police, or libraries could lead to detention or deportation. This fear is not abstract. It separates families, discourages parents from seeking medical care for their children, keeps students out of school, and silences survivors of violence.

This fear erodes the common good.

The newly-introduced immigrant protection bill package consists of three bills that collectively draw a clear and necessary distinction between the responsibilities of New Jersey’s public agencies – whose mission is to protect, heal, educate, and serve – and the work of federal civil immigration enforcement.

• The Safe Communities Act, A6308, calls on the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General to develop model policies around sensitive locations, with the intention of ensuring that all New Jerseyans can safely access essential services such as schools, houses of worship, healthcare facilities, food pantries, libraries, and social services.
• The Privacy Protection Act, A6309, would establish data privacy protections at New Jersey agencies and health care facilities, ensuring that data regarding immigrants’ status is only collected when necessary to administer a program and creating standards around confidentiality and disclosure. It would also reaffirm safeguards around the sharing of Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) and Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) data.
• The Strengthening Trust Between Law Enforcement and Immigrant Communities Act, A6310, would preserve the Office of the Attorney General’s Immigrant Trust Directive as well as add changes to better ensure that all New Jerseyans are afforded their full due process rights under the United States Constitution.

This bill package, if enacted, will promote the safety, stability, and the flourishing of all New Jersey families.

As Jews, our commitment to this work is rooted deeply in our sacred tradition. The Torah commands us at least 36 times to protect and love the ger—the immigrant, the sojourner, the person who is vulnerable in our midst. “The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love them as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Leviticus 19:33–34). Our people’s story begins with displacement. Our memory is shaped by persecution, migration, and the yearning for safety.

Our values compel us to build a society in which all people—regardless of immigration status—can seek medical care without fear, send their children to school without hesitation, call for help in an emergency without risk, and participate fully in the life of our communities. While only the members of the United States Congress can comprehensively address our nation’s broken immigration system, in the face of federal civil immigration overreach, the above-described immigrant protection bill package can provide meaningful harm reduction for the 1 in 4 New Jerseyans who are foreign born.

We therefore call on the New Jersey Legislature to swiftly pass this bill package, and we urge people of all faiths and moral traditions to join us in supporting this crucial legislation. At a time when fear is too often used as a political tool, our state must choose a different path—one grounded in justice, compassion, and the belief that every person deserves to feel safe accessing the services that sustain the health and well-being of their families.

Let us affirm together that New Jersey is a place where trust is strengthened, families are protected, and human dignity remains our guiding value.

Rabbi Joel Abraham, Interim Rabbi, Temple Beth Miriam, Long Branch

Rabbi Richard Address, Director, Jewish Sacred Aging, Cherry Hill

Rabbi Jacob Adler, Rabbi, Congregation Kehilat Shalom, Belle Mead

Rabbi Victor Appell, Senior Associate Rabbi, Temple Emanu-El, Westfield

Rabbi Vicki Axe, Rabbi, Temple Emanu-El, Edison

Rabbi Philip Bazeley, Rabbi, Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple, New Brunswick

Rabbi Adena Blum, Senior Rabbi, Congregation Beth Chaim, Princeton Junction

Rabbi Neal Borovitz, Rabbi Emeritus, Kol Dorot: A Reform Jewish Community, Oradell

Cantor Justin Callis, Cantor, Congregation Kol Ami, Cherry Hill

Cantor Galit Dadoun-Cohen, Temple B’nai Or, Morristown

Rabbi Noah Diamondstein, Senior Rabbi, Temple Beth-El, Hillsborough

Rabbi Renee Edelman, Rabbi, Monmouth Reform Temple, Tinton Falls

Rabbi Hannah Ellenson, Director of Congregational Learning and Innovation, Temple B’nai Jeshurun, Short Hills

Rabbi Shammai Engelmayer, Founding Rabbi, K’’k Torat Chayim VaChesed, Tenafly

Rabbi Helaine Ettinger, Rabbi, Philipstown Reform Synagogue, Maplewood

Rabbi Noah Fabricant, Rabbi, Kol Dorot: A Reform Jewish Community, Oradell

Rabbi Jonathan Falco, Assistant Rabbi, Temple Shaari Emeth, Manalapan

Rabbi James Feder, Assistant Rabbi, Temple Ner Tamid, Bloomfield

Rabbi Michael Feshbach, Rabbi, Congregation Beth Israel, Northfield

Cantor Lucy Fishbein, Senior Cantor, Temple B’nai Jeshurun, Short Hills

Rabbi Joseph Forman, Rabbi, Or Chadash, Flemington

Rabbi Jennifer Frenkel, Rabbi, Congregation Kol Ami, Cherry Hill

Rabbi Gary Gans, Rabbi Emeritus, Congregation Beth Tikvah, Marlton

Rabbi Matthew Gewirtz, Senior Rabbi, Temple B’nai Jeshurun, Short Hills

Rabbi Shira Gluck, Associate Rabbi and Director of Congregational Learning, Temple Sinai, Summit

Rabbi Arnold Gluck, Rabbi Emeritus, Temple Beth-El, Hillsborough

Cantor Ilana Goldman, Senior Cantor, Temple Emanu-El, Westfield

Rabbi Ralph Goren, Cantor Kolbo, Beth El Synagogue, Margate

Rabbi Laurence Groffman, Rabbi, Temple Sholom of West Essex, Cedar Grove

Rabbi/Cantor Rhoda Harrison, Rabbi, Temple Beth Hillel Beth Abraham of Carmel, Vineland

Rabbi Rebecca Jaye, Adjunct Rabbi, Temple Emanu-El, Westfield

Rabbi Marc Katz, Senior Rabbi, Temple Ner Tamid, Bloomfield

Rabbi Anat Katzir, Rabbi Educator, Kol Dorot: A Reform Jewish Community, Oradell

Rabbi Rebecca Kaufman, Assistant Rabbi, Congregation Beth Chaim, Princeton Junction

Rabbi Charles Kroloff, Rabbi Emeritus, Temple Emanu-El, Westfield

Rabbi Joshua Lobel, Reform Community Educator, Rutgers University Hillel, New Brunswick

Rabbi Emily Losben-Ostrov, Rabbi, Temple Sholom, Scotch Plains

Rabbi Laurence Malinger, Rabbi, Temple Shalom, Aberdeen

Rabbi Randall Mark, Rabbi, Shomrei Torah: The Wayne Conservative Congregation, Wayne

Rabbi Amy Memis-Foler, Rabbi, Adath Emanu-El, Mount Laurel

Rabbi/Cantor Jacqueline Menaker, Rabbi Cantor, Shirat Hayam, Ventnor

Rabbi Abby Michaleski, Rabbi, Beth Israel, Vineland

Rabbi Ariel Milan-Polisar, Assistant Rabbi, Congregation Kol Ami, Cherry Hill

Rabbi Bennett Miller, Rabbi Emeritus, Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple, New Brunswick

Rabbi Ellie Miller, Rabbi, MAKOMnj, Morristown

Rabbi Jordan Millstein, Senior Rabbi, Temple Sinai of Bergen County, Tenafly

Rabbi Norman Patz, Rabbi Emeritus, Temple Sholom of West Essex, Cedar Grove

Rabbi Karen Glazer Perolman, Senior Associate Rabbi, Temple B’nai Jeshurun, Short Hills

Rabbi Ethan Prosnit, Senior Rabbi, Temple Emanu-El, Westfield

Rabbi/Cantor Colman Reaboi, Rabbi Cantor, Temple Sinai of Cinnaminson, Cinnaminson

Cantor Beth Reinstein, Assistant Cantor, Temple B’nai Jeshurun, Short Hills

Rabbi Michael Satz, Rabbi, Temple B’nai Or, Morristown

Rabbi Eliza Scheffler, Associate Rabbi, Barnert Temple, Franklin Lakes

Rabbi Barry Schwartz, Rabbi, Congregation Adas Emuno, Leonia

Rabbi Ilana Schwartzman, Rabbi, Beth Haverim Shir Shalom, Mahwah

Cantor Darcie Sharlein, Cantor, Temple Sholom, Scotch Plains

Cantor Sarah Silverberg, Cantor, Kol Dorot: A Reform Jewish Community, Oradell

Rabbi Steven Sirbu, Rabbi, Temple Emeth, Teaneck

Cantor Mark Stanton, Cantor, Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple, New Brunswick

Rabbi Rachel Steiner, Senior Rabbi, Barnert Temple, Franklin Lakes

Rabbi James Stoloff, Rabbi, Ridgewood

Rabbi David Vaisberg, Rabbi, Temple B’nai Abraham, Livingston

Cantor Risa Wallach, Cantor, Temple Beth-El, Hillsborough

Rabbi Nathan Weiner, Rabbi, Temple Har Zion, Mount Holly

Rabbi Ariann Weitzman, Rabbi Educator, B’nai Keshet Reconstructionist Synagogue, Montclair

Cantor Stephanie Wright, Cantor, Temple Sholom of West Essex, Cedar Grove

Rabbi Mary Zamore, Executive Director, The Women’s Rabbinic Network, Westfield

Cantor Sarah Zemel, Cantor, Temple Shalom, Aberdeen