Defending Core Democratic Values For Everyone

20 April 2025

I believe most Americans uphold core democratic values:

• We stand by the right to free speech, even when it offends us, even when it's voiced by immigrants.

• We support due process for everyone on American soil, including immigrants. That means fair hearings, access to legal representation and legal protections before anyone’s rights are stripped away.

I take particular pride in those within the Jewish community who are speaking up for Palestinian students now facing deportation, despite how offensive their views may be to us.

A recent statement captures this spirit:

“We are united in denouncing, without equivocation, anyone who invokes our name—and cynical claims of antisemitism—to harass, expel, arrest, or deport members of our campus communities.”

Elaine Landes, a member of Congregation Dorshei Tzedek, put it powerfully:

“The idea that someone can be pulled off the street for something they wrote, something they think, really affects us all, and we all need to fight back against that.”

She continued:

“The whole push to fight antisemitism, to me, feels like we’re being used for another agenda, and that is not going to keep our community safe. We need to look out for others.” Source

These are not outside voices - they come from within our Jewish community. That’s what makes them so important.

The initiative known as Project Esther, launched by the Heritage Foundation to “combat antisemitism,” may appear supportive on the surface, but we must question the motives behind it. The Heritage Foundation is closely tied to Donald Trump - a man whose own Vice President has compared him to “America’s Hitler.” He is not a friend of the Jewish community.

We must not allow bad actors to hijack Jewish suffering to promote authoritarianism or xenophobia.

Higher education is one of America’s greatest exports. But tragically, in states like Michigan and beyond, international students no longer feel safe. Their right to study, speak and even exist here peacefully is under threat.

As journalist Jennifer Rubin has written:

“The deportations do not only violate the most fundamental rights of due process. They also exemplify MAGA officials’ utter lack of humanity for anyone who does not look, sound and think as they do. It is the antithesis of empathy—the worst governmental abuse of power in my lifetime directed at people least able to defend themselves.”

As a retired lawyer, I never imagined I’d say this, but until Trump is out of office, international students may need to keep a low profile, unless they’re prepared for a legal fight. They should have First Amendment rights. In theory, they do. But under Trump and his allies, those rights are fragile and easily disregarded.

Those of us who are not recent arrivals have a responsibility to speak up in defense of American values. Support candidates and parties that stand for due process, freedom of speech and immigrant rights. Each week, move just one purchase from a billionaire-owned business to a local one to fight wealth inequality with your wallet. And stay away from media, institutions and individuals who promote lies or support authoritarianism.

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The index to my prior essays (mostly post 5 November 2024) is here.

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