Volunteering to Support Immigrants

By New Shul Member Adam Zucker

At Kabbalat Shabbat Rabbi Misha focused on the passing of Sarah, and how Abraham was a stranger in the land (Hebron) where his wife died. And the nature of being a stranger, or immigrant, which is an extremely relevant issue in the States today. I was motivated to share my experiences working as a volunteer in immigration court for the last year, and an invitation for anyone to participate in this work. 

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Over the high holidays, Misha spoke about eyn od and focusing on the here and now, and a discussion of how to think about making a difference in the world. It made me think a lot about something I’ve been doing for the past year now, and inviting others, if inclined, to get involved. 

Since last fall, I’ve been going to Immigration Court one morning a week to accompany our immigrant neighbors seeking asylum.  I volunteer with a Quaker group, New Sanctuary Coalition.  It’s not necessarily easy, and I can tell you of the dozens of times when I question its efficacy, or a feeling that it’s all futile.  I can best describe being there as an odd combination of being both powerful and powerless at the same time. 

But I can also attest that I am giving comfort to people in the most alienating and inhospitable of places, and that in the crazy political times we live in, showing up as a human being, for other human beings, is something that truly keeps me sane and engaged. And though they may be few and far between, the times when I truly connect with another person in need, and touch their hearts and can actually help them, are truly memorable. As an Ashkenzai Jew, many, in not all of us are the descendants of immigrants, and that’s an identity that has always meant a great deal to me. I relate to these Friends.

So, what does it mean to accompany? It means engaging with Friends showing up for court. Telling them about pro bono legal clinics. Just trying to talk to people who more often than not do not speak English, to hear where they came from, what’s been going on for them, trying to help them navigate an unbelievably cruel and byzantine immigration system. It’s sitting with them in court, serving the integral role of being an observer of what actually takes place. On a scarier note, If ICE agents are present—which certainly happens but is much less frequent now than last winter—it’s trying to keep our Friends calm, making sure to escort them out of the building safely, and if someone is detained, to go to our congressman’s office to help them in filing a habeus corpus suit. 

I wanted to share this as an invitation to get involved. I’m not soliciting, and I’m certainly not prosletyzing. I can’t stress how ambivalent I sometimes feel about this commitment. But I have learned that life is mostly about showing up, and whatever form showing up for our neighbors takes, it can be truly valuable.

To be clear—I’m not special at all. There are many people who do this work in the courts, many no doubt are better at it than I am. Many groups are there-- JFREJ City College, I-Cares. Brad Lander and other politicians turn up, and there are pastors and clergy who are truly remarkable. 

If this interests or intrigues you, at any level of engagement, sign up for an orientation at NewSanctuarynsc.org. If you’re fluent in Spanish or other languages, or better yet are a lawyer, you can volunteer at the weekly legal clinic.  You needn’t commit to every single week; whenever you’re available you’ll be contributing. 

The big point is: Accompanying immigrants is certainly not the only way to be directly involved and help others. But I just wanted to share what I’ve found, and the realization I came to that anything I do that has me spending less time wringing my hands worrying about the state of things, and instead doing something concrete that just might be helpful for others, makes me feel a lot more nourished. 

I hope you too may find a new  way to see ein od and to do something that may be of value and truly nourishes. 

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Lastly, and very ironically, hearing Misha, talking with him after, and contemplating all of this actually made me understand what the film I’ve been making for four years, and is nearing completion, is truly about. The story of Catholic Worker farmers in the midwest speaks, among much else, to the long, great tradition of political action and its version of civil disobedience. In the film, at one point my main character, Mike Miles, says something that I’ve literally heard hundreds of times as I was editing. He says that people sometimes say hope is nothing more than wishful thinking for a happy tomorrow. But quoting his mentor, Phillip Berrigan, he says “If you want to have hope, you have to do hopeful things.” It took me a long time, but I finally understood the story I was trying to tell. 

I hope you too may find your way to an Ein Vod and doing something that may be of value and truly nourishes.