JANUARY 16 • 2020 | 19 Jews in the D and how we might best sup- port them. ” Rabbi Jeffrey Falick of the Birmingham Temple Congregation of Humanistic Judaism in Farmington Hills recounts that they have been Rabbi Jeffrey Falick working on immigration issues since 2016, with a big ramp-up in January 2017 in response to the govern- ment’ s “Muslim ban. ” Birmingham Temple declared itself a sanctuary in 2017 and became part of the Sanctuary Network of Michigan. The congregation has sponsored a Syrian ref- ugee family for almost three years, and it issued a resolu- tion to resist the deportation of undocumented immi- grants. Regarding federal immi- gration policy, Falick says, “Nothing has changed — at least, nothing for the better. We have discovered even more children were detained than the government at first admitted, and more are being detained. ICE keeps looking for cost-savings in the already inadequate way the children are cared for. “Things are as bad as they ever were, ” he added. “Trump has put pressure on Mexico to keep asylum seekers without even letting them over the border into the U.S. The U.S. government has decided to charge asylum seekers to pro- cess their applications. ” The legal environment for pursuing asylum claims and for immigration status is convoluted and horrible, Falick says, adding that peo- ple caught in this system need legal help. The Birmingham Temple supports the efforts of Freedom House in Detroit, which helps immigrants with legal representation and with job assistance. DIFFERING VIEWS Meanwhile, some Jewish organizations support the Trump administration in its efforts to restrict immigra- tion. Dorene Weisberg, co-pres- ident of the board for the Michigan Jewish Action Council (MJAC.us), says MJAC “incorporated in spring of 2017, after wit- nessing what appeared to be a coordinated effort by the standard Jewish agencies to resist the newly inaugurated president and attack all of his policies and ultimately smear him with accusations of anti-Semitism. “We decided we could no longer tolerate the assumption that those agencies provided the final word on the beliefs, standards and activities of 100 percent of the Jewish popula- tion, particularly on the local level, here in Michigan. We continue to believe there is a substantial Jewish population (at least 25 percent) not in agreement with those agen- cies, and we hope to be the one agency that can represent and be the home for those Jews here in Michigan. ” Asked specifically about immigration, Weisberg refers to the statements of a rabbinic organization, the Coalition for Jewish Values. Its vice presi- dent, Rabbi Yoel Schoenfeld, condemned the Obama administration’ s policy “under which large numbers of illegal immigrants who infiltrated across the southern border in the U.S. were not prosecuted for the illegal entry. ” continued from page 17 TEMPLE SHIR SHALOM’S CHI CKEN SOUP COOK-OFF CHI CKEN SOUP COOK-OFF Templ e Shi r Shal om’ s 10t h annual Chi cken Soup Cook-Off! Sun. Jan. 26 12:30–2:00pm Taste 20+ Chicken Soups! Professional & Amateur Divisions Sponsors (as of Jan 10): Art Fishman Burning Bush Fund Beau’s Best Homes Title Agency Ciao Cutting Edge Cuisine Detroit Jewish News Fran and Gary Grossman Franklin Village Boutique Harris Altman Injury Lawyers Jennifer’s Café Lisa and Josh Sherbin Lulu’s Coney Island Mort Meisner Associates Napoletana Classic Italian Panera Bread Pegasus Entertainment Pine Lake Market and Deli Platinum Dish Catering Sallyjo and Barry Levine Schneiderman & Sherman Steve’s Deli Sweet Spots Temple Shir Shalom Brotherhood Temple Shir Shalom Preschool Tony’s Deli Val’s Deli @Temple Shir Shalom info + tickets: www.SoupCookOff.org or (248) 737-8700 The whole community is invited!