I was one of two local rabbis (the other was Rabbi Moti Rieber) who were amongst the 600 clergy who traveled to Minneapolis a few weeks ago to witness firsthand what can only be characterized as a reign of violence and induced fear inflicted on everyday residents by ICE (ICE is used as an encompassing term that references both Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection).
We have all heard about the murders of Renee Good — formerly a neighbor here in Waldo — and Alex Pretti. In 2025, there 32 reported deaths of people in ICE custody.
There are stories of cruel family separation, children being detained and held as bait to force their parents into ICE custody, and children asking why classmates are no longer in school. People have literally been forced into lockdown in their homes; notwithstanding that they may be people who hold legal immigrant status.
That all these stories I could never have imagined would be part of an American story in my lifetime have left me feeling gut-punched, a feeling of profound sadness and anger. The policy of “rounding up” people indiscriminately, ignoring due process and rights — both Constitutional rights and human rights — hits way too close to our own Jewish history for me to ignore. It is a feeling that led me to Minneapolis to fight this madness and stand with the decent people of Minnesota. The idea of “Minnesota nice” is more than just a slogan.
So what is the impetus for this reign of terror? It is not to implement needed immigration policy. They are not going after the criminals, the worst of the worst. Those who are rounded up and detained/imprisoned or deported are done so with disregard for their background or immigration status. Also, if the goal is to deport those who are in the country without documentation, why only carry out this government sponsored assault on some cities, and do relatively little in states like Texas and Florida that actually have existing borders where immigrants cross?
The $75 billion dollars committed to ICE has led to reckless recruiting of new ICE agents, put out on the streets with little training. They act without lawful judicial warrants entering schools, places of worship, hospitals and homes. Their actions have not made our cities and states safer, quite the contrary. They are a hindrance to our local law enforcement doing what they are trained to do: keep us all safe. These conditions made the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti inevitable.
This was all brought into stark reality during my time in Minneapolis. At one point, we were shooed into a church as an ICE abduction was taking place around the corner, and there was legitimate fear that, being outside and close by, we were at risk. All this had given rise to my sadness and anger.
Yet, I also take hope back home from my time in Minneapolis. I spent Friday morning in the neighborhood where Renee Good was killed. (It is the same neighborhood that had been traumatized by the murder of George Floyd, and close to where ICE agents shot and killed Alex Pretti.) There is no one leader in that neighborhood. They have created a community where everyone knows everyone, and they protect and support each other.
The community has a gathering spot where, for years now, they meet outside of an abandoned convenience store morning and evening (their own version of Shacharit and Ma’ariv) to check up on each other. Groceries are delivered to families who are in fear of leaving their homes, kids are picked up by neighbors and taken to school where parents fear abduction and deportation. There are systems to warn each other of ICE presence. Mutual aid has become everyone’s responsibility in Minneapolis. This is a model we can and should replicate here in Kansas City.
As Jews, we should know better than anyone the importance of welcoming immigrants and what happens when borders have been closed to us. In this crucial time in our country’s history, let us stand on the side of compassion. Let us consider each of us our neighbor, beyond our own Jewish community. As the strangers in our midst suffer oppression as we have in our own history, let us carry with us the mitzvah that commands us to fight against oppressing the stranger. In this moment, there is no more important mitzvah than to love the stranger.
