US Jewish groups alarmed by GOP’s deportation plan

JTA – Three Jewish organisations dealing with immigration and community relations said they were alarmed by the Republican Party’s plans to launch mass deportation, saying they are steeped in a racist conspiracy theory that at times has veered into antisemitism.

The Republican platform, published this week, pledges to “carry out the largest deportation operation in American history”.

“President Trump and Republicans will reverse the Democrats’ destructive open borders policies that have allowed criminal gangs and Illegal aliens from around the world to roam the United States without consequences,” the platform says. Analysts have said that such a deportation order could affect as many as 11 million people.

The platform almost wholly reflects the priorities of Donald Trump, who will secure nomination at the party conference next week.

Mark Hetfield, the president of HIAS, the Jewish immigration advocacy group, said that such a plan would trigger legal challenges and that HIAS would join them, the way it led challenges to some of Trump’s immigration policies in his first term, including his ban on migration from a number of Muslim-majority countries.

“I’m certain we would once again challenge them and join challenges, and of course, we will be named plaintiffs,” he said in an interview, noting that in the past HIAS and other Jewish groups, including Jewish Family Service of Seattle, had led lawsuits. “We can’t stand by while any of these policies regarding immigrants are implemented.”

Amy Spitalnick, the chief executive of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, a national community relations body, also predicted that the community would challenge any plans for mass deportation.

“If any official tries to advance mass deportations, make no mistake, the Jewish community will be among the loudest voices fighting back because we understand precisely where this hate and extremism can lead,” she said in an interview.

Jamie Beran, the chief executive of Bend the Arc, a Jewish social-justice activist network, singled out how deportation fits into the platform’s mention of antisemitism, which pledges to “support revoking visas of foreign nationals who support terrorism and jihadism”.

“Jewish people should never be used as justification for racist, xenophobic policies that harm our immigrant family and fuel antisemitism,” she said in a text. “Bend the Arc will participate in challenging this outrageous plan, and every part the right’s catastrophic Project 2025, in the legal system and in the streets, together with our partners in the immigrant rights community.” Project 2025 is a massive government rehaul proposed by the Trump-aligned Heritage Foundation think tank.

Other Jewish groups that have in the past advocated for immigrants were silent. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the American Jewish Committee declined to comment, and the Jewish Federations of North America didn’t return a request for comment. Centrist Jewish groups generally avoid weighing in on hot-button issues in an election year. The ADL’s proposed recommendations for party platforms doesn’t include any mention of immigration or refugees.

Spitalnick and Hetfeld both expressed alarm at how the language of the platform appears to be steeped in “replacement theory”, a baseless conspiracy alleging a liberal plot to replace whites with people of colour. Versions of the theory have antisemitic overtones, alleging that the plot is led by Jews.

Hetfield singled out a passage targeting family reunion policies, which conservatives call “chain migration”.

“Republicans will prioritise merit-based immigration, ensuring that those admitted to our country contribute positively to our society and economy, and never become a drain on public resources,” the platform says. “We will end chain migration, and put American workers first!”

The platform also declares, “We must not allow Biden’s migrant invasion to alter our country.”

“They’re using the language of invasion and a cultural takeover, and focusing on crime as if all crime is brought into this country by immigrants,” said Hetfield, who reviewed GOP platforms through 2012, and found language welcoming refugees that is absent from the current platform. “The scariest part, although we’re starting to get used to this and I hope we never really get used to it,” is that the plan is “basically … a manifesto on replacement theory”, he said.

Spitalnick noted that replacement theory had often veered into antisemitism, spurring deadly attacks by antisemites in recent years.

“The ‘invasion’ and other extreme immigration rhetoric and policies embedded in this platform aren’t just draconian and cruel, they have also directly fuelled a cycle of xenophobic, racist, and antisemitic violence targeting Jews, Latinos, black Americans, and so many others,” she said. “This is fundamentally at odds with Jewish values and Jewish safety. I can’t believe this is a real conversation in America in 2024.”

Hetfield said a separate pledge in the platform to deport visiting students who organise pro-Palestinian protests would also face legal challenges.

“Protesting isn’t grounds for removal,” he said. “That’s an infringement of free speech. And if you’re rounding up protesters and you’re deporting those who happen to be noncitizens because they were engaged in a protest, that would be completely unacceptable.”