HIAS, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, applauds the July 26th ruling by a
federal judge in Scranton, Pa. against the City of Hazleton in a
landmark challenge (Lozano v. City of Hazleton) to local
immigration-related ordinances aimed at punishing landlords, employers
and immigrants. This decision represents a victory of common sense
over vitriol during a time when states and localities are feeling the
pressure to react to congressional inaction on immigration reform.

Facing a vacuum of leadership from Congress on fixing our broken
immigration system, many state legislatures and localities have
responded by crafting and passing immigration-related measures, many of
which are anti-immigrant and which may ultimately be ruled
unconstitutional. As of May 2007, nearly 1,200 immigration-related
bills and resolutions had been introduced in state legislatures, and
dozens of localities have passed anti-immigrant measures. Many of
these measures aim to restrict access to rental housing, employment,
and government services, and authorize enhanced authority to state and
local law enforcement over immigrants in their communities for
non-criminal activity. Rather than fixing our broken immigration
system, these ordinances only serve to invoke fear, suspicion, and
anti-immigrant fervor in our communities, as well as ostracize and
mistreat immigrants.

Conjuring fear of the other and sensationalizing an onslaught of
immigration does not contribute to sound and humane policy making,
whether at the federal, state or local level. Immigrants and their
families are good for our economy, good for our communities, and
contribute to the overall development of our nation. America would not
be the dynamic and prosperous nation that it is today were it not for
the immigrants who came and continue to come to our shores seeking
opportunity and freedom.

Yet today we see an anti-immigrant backlash in our communities that
is reminiscent of the same backlash that Jews have historically faced
upon reaching America’s shores. American Jews are especially familiar
with the undercurrent of fear and suspicion of newcomers that exists in
our country today. Since the first Jewish immigrants arrived in America
350 years ago, Jews have understood well what it means to come to this
country in search of opportunity and freedom. Having reached American
shores, Jewish immigrants benefited from these freedoms and
opportunities and in the process made contributions to American society
– economically, politically, culturally, and in many other ways. The
wave of Jewish immigrants to America in the early 1880’s who were
fleeing poverty and murderous pogroms, anti-Jewish uprisings
in Russia and elsewhere in Eastern Europe, was eventually met with an
anti-immigrant backlash that resulted in the National Origins Quota of
1924, which severely restricted immigration from Eastern Europe and
Russia after that time. In 1939 a Roper poll found that only
thirty-nine percent of Americans felt that Jews should be treated like
other people. Fifty-three percent believed that “Jews are different and
should be restricted” and ten percent believed that Jews should be
deported.

The anti-immigrant sentiment that we see today is not unlike the
antisemitic sentiments Jewish immigrants who came to the United States
experienced in the past. From this experience and based on Jewish
religious and ethical values that provide the firm foundation for
Jewish involvement in immigration, the Jewish community recognizes
today’s immigrants as a part of our national fabric and as Americans
who contribute to our country and make it stronger, and has advocated
for fair and human policies, nationally and locally. They fill jobs
that would go otherwise unfilled, they support their families, they
participate in religious communities, and they contribute to the
economy by starting businesses and paying taxes.

These mean-spirited state and local measures aimed at driving
immigrants away are not the solution to fixing our broken immigration
system – a system based on ignoring illegality rather than creating
rational opportunities for new immigrant workers. Anti-immigrant
measures at the local and state level, such as those recently passed in
Prince William and Loudon Counties in Virginia and those rightfully
struck down in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, will not improve our communities
but instead tear them apart. What is needed is a careful, considered,
and compassionate federal approach to immigration policy that
incorporates the pressing security concerns of all Americans, while
maintaining America’s historical essence as a welcoming haven. Toward
that end, HIAS has consistently urged Congress to adopt comprehensive
immigration reform that offers a path to citizenship to the estimated
12 million undocumented immigrants living in the shadows; creates wider
legal channels for future workers and worker protections; reunites
families; and includes enforcement and border security measures that
are meaningful, effective, and humane. Only then will we as a nation
be able to both welcome newcomers and enhance our security.