Giving Haven in the U.S. to Hate-Persecuted Canadian Jews

Columbia University students maintained a protest encampment on their campus following arrest of more than 100 protesters. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

 

"[We appeal to you to expedite a method of entry into the United States for Jewish Canadians] who are experiencing persecution or who credibly fear for their safety because they are Jewish."

"[There exists] an alarming climate of harassment intimidation, vandalism, threats and violence [faced by Canadian families since the Hamas terrorist attacks of 7 October 2023]."

"Advocates working directly with these families report that more than 2,000 Jewish Canadians have expressed interest in relocating because of growing concerns for their safety."

"Accordingly, we respectfully ask that you direct the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security to identify and implement lawful, secure, and appropriately expedited pathways for eligible Jewish Canadian nationals and their immediate family members who face persecution."

National Association of Christian Lawmakers (NACL)

The NACL letter urged the administration to coordinate with state and local governments, Jewish organizations, churches, nonprofits and employers willing to help families establish new lives in the United States.

 

This Christian group forwarded a proposal to the White House, attention of the President of the United States, appealing for a legal pathway to welcome Jewish Canadians fearing for their safety during a renascent flood of antisemitism whose effects have impacted the sense of security of Canadian Jews for the past three years and more. Led by Palestinian student groups, fuelled by hatred of Israel, incited and paid for from abroad through the Muslim Brotherhood and its sponsor Qatar, manifestations of that in-your-face antisemitism have taken place in the streets through mass protests, on university campuses and has seeped into public medical institutions where Jews now fear being treated in hospitals that employ Muslim medical staff where they are met with hostility.

 

There have been far too many instances of vandalism perpetrated against Jewish-owned businesses and institutions, in Canada, with Jewish parochial schools and community centers and synagogues being targeted with the violence of being shot at, vandalized, and fire-bombed. Crowds of Jew-hating Muslims and leftist allies have marched through Jewish neighbourhoods in Toronto and Montreal, shouting invective, chorusing 'Globalize the Intifada', 'Final Solution', and 'From the River to the Sea', terrorizing the residents, with insufficient response from municipal authorities and related police services.

 

Christian organizations like that of the NACL have expressed their sympathy at the plight of Jews in North America and Europe being verbally attacked and facing violent threats. Their empathetic responses, fellowship and offers of assistance have been heart-warming and serve as a balm to the wounded sentiments of Jews everywhere. However, the solution sought here, to encourage and formalize a system whereby Jews can leave Canada for haven in the United States, while a kindly gesture, would only move Jews from one threatened place to another, since American Jews are also facing very similar circumstances of exposure to racist hatred from the very same sources.

 

Trump shared a link to the report on Truth Social on Sunday evening, but did not comment on the contents.

 

The letter, sent to the attention of President Donald Trump, signed by Jason Rapert, founder and president of NACL, along with state representatives and religious leaders, with copies to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other U.S. senators and representatives, expresses a heartfelt concern with the hope of ameliorating the pain and vulnerability being felt by some Jews in Canada who have expressed a wish to leave the country for another that they believe promises them greater safety, respect and dignity. Yet, there too the harassment and hatred will assail them. Just as fundamentalist Muslims in Canada preach hatred of Jews, so too do those in the United States.

 

People set up a makeshift memorial for the hostages taken in the Oct. 7 Hamas-led militant attacks on Israel near an ongoing pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the Columbia University campus. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

 

As good-hearted as the move by the Christian group is, in the expression of its concern for a beleaguered community with which they feel a brotherhood, it is but a band-aid solution to a serious disease immune to band-aid responses. Calling for the Trump administration to cooperate with states, local governments, Jewish organizations, churches, non-profits and employers willing to assist arriving families does nothing to solve the larger issue. That issue is the presence of antagonistic, hostile religious exponents of fundamentalist Islam for whom obligatory jihad for the faithful begins with expunging the presence of Jews.

 

Statistics Canada's latest data reflect that 71 percent of religious hate crimes in the country targeted its Jewish population. In the United States, the Anti-Defamation League's August report highlighted that 63 percent of all reported religion-based hate crimes in 2025 targeted American Jews, according to data from the FBI, making 2025 the third-highest year on record of anti-Jewish hate crimes in America. "We believe this moment presents another opportunity for America to demonstrate those principles" of "America's historic commitment to stand against religious persecution", the letter states.

 

CHRISTIAN LEADERS HOLD EMERGENCY SUMMIT IN JERUSALEM TO CONFRONT GLOBAL RISE IN ANTISEMITISM   Fox News

 

"For generations, America has served as a refuge for people fleeing religious persecution."

"We urge you to ensure that, consistent with federal law and the security interests of the United States, that door remains open to our Jewish brothers and sisters in Canada who need it today."

National Association of Christian Lawmakers (NACL) 

Students demonstrate on the campus of Atlanta's Emory University on Thursday as campus protests across the U.S. lead to confrontational standoffs with police, mass arrests and accusations of antisemitism. (Elijah Nouvelage/AFP/Getty Images)