Calling for the end to detention of undocumented minors, Rabbi Josh Whinston of Temple Beth Emeth in Ann Arbor said in a statement sent to Newsweek: “We, as people of faith, stand for the reunification of children with parents or guardians regardless of immigration status.
“The time has [come] to bring an end to the outrageous practices that keep asylum seekers and immigrant teens mired in desperate poverty or locked in prison camps. This pilgrimage is a fulfillment of our obligation as religious leaders to support the most vulnerable among us, and an acknowledgement of the immigrant identity embedded in our own Jewish heritage.”
Plans for the pilgrimage south came as thousands of Central American migrants made their way north toward the U.S.-Mexico border, with many hoping to claim asylum in the U.S.
