Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC)
JCRC Statement on Executive Order Banning Entry of Everyone From Seven Nations
The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), a part of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, expresses concern over the executive order temporarily banning entry into the United States of all immigrants and refugees from seven predominantly Muslim nations. While our country’s safety and security are essential, we should not close our borders to entire nations, ethnic groups, or religions. The recent executive order is over-broad and unnecessarily harmful to innocent individuals and families, and to U.S. medical and educational institutions and businesses as indicated by many of their leaders. Furthermore, we oppose policies that bar or privilege certain groups of refugees solely because of their religion or country of origin.
In response to the executive order, Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley said “In Cincinnati, everyone has a seat at the table.” We are proud to join many other of our city’s diverse groups in supporting the Mayor’s pledge to “welcome the stranger,” a principle at the very heart of what it means to be Jewish.
This sentiment was echoed in the statement released by the Greater Cincinnati Board of Rabbis that reminded us that, “The central command of our holy Torah—repeated more times than any other commandment in the Bible—is to ‘not oppress the stranger…for we were strangers in the land of Egypt.’”
This executive order is at direct odds with our Jewish values of welcoming the stranger, proclaiming liberty, rejecting invidious discrimination, and mutual responsibility for those within our midst. These values have nourished our ancestors and now it is our responsibility to live them in service to others, and to demand that our leaders uphold them. We urge citizens and elected representatives to reject invidious discrimination, respect the rights of immigrants under our Constitution and laws, and preserve the promise of the uniquely American dream.
