No Person is Illegal

In his inaugural speech of January 20, 2025 Trump said: ""All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came."

Trump advisor Steven Miller has promised a "shock and awe" approach to illegal immigrants in America. Miller likely is unaware that one hundred years ago, Jews were a suspect class in America. Antisemitism was widespread, and much of the American public held stereotypical views, not too different from how “illegal aliens” are viewed now. In 1921 and later in 1924, strict immigration quotas were put into place that greatly limited the number of southern and eastern European immigrants, especially Jews, who could come into the U.S.

The quotas were so limiting that the new laws prompted illegal smuggling operations. The fact of the quotas did not stop European Jews from wanting to come to the U.S. No one knows exactly how many Jews illegally emigrated to the U.S. Over the period from 1921 to 1965, best estimates are in the tens of thousands, possibly higher.

The story is told in Libby Garland’s book After They Closed the Gates. Smugglers brought Jews over on ships with forged travel documents. People crossed the border in Mexico, Canada, and also by boat from Cuba. Havana was a center for smuggling from Cuba into the U.S. It afforded easy access to the Gulf and Atlantic ports, especially to points on the Florida coast.

בראשית י״ב:א׳

(א) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יהוה אֶל־אַבְרָ֔ם לֶךְ־לְךָ֛ מֵאַרְצְךָ֥ וּמִמּֽוֹלַדְתְּךָ֖ וּמִבֵּ֣ית אָבִ֑יךָ אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אַרְאֶֽךָּ׃

Genesis 12:1

(1)יהוה said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

דברים י׳:י״ז-י״ח

(יז) כִּ֚י יהוה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֔ם ה֚וּא אֱלֹהֵ֣י הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים וַאדני הָאֲדֹנִ֑ים הָאֵ֨ל הַגָּדֹ֤ל הַגִּבֹּר֙ וְהַנּוֹרָ֔א אֲשֶׁר֙ לֹא־יִשָּׂ֣א פָנִ֔ים וְלֹ֥א יִקַּ֖ח שֹֽׁחַד׃ (יח) עֹשֶׂ֛ה מִשְׁפַּ֥ט יָת֖וֹם וְאַלְמָנָ֑ה וְאֹהֵ֣ב גֵּ֔ר לָ֥תֶת ל֖וֹ לֶ֥חֶם וְשִׂמְלָֽה׃

Deuteronomy 10:17-18

(17) For your God יהוה is God supreme and Lord supreme, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who shows no favor and takes no bribe, (18) but upholds the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and befriends the stranger, providing food and clothing.—

דברים ל״ב:ח׳

(ח) בְּהַנְחֵ֤ל עֶלְיוֹן֙ גּוֹיִ֔ם בְּהַפְרִיד֖וֹ בְּנֵ֣י אָדָ֑ם יַצֵּב֙ גְּבֻלֹ֣ת עַמִּ֔ים לְמִסְפַּ֖ר בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

Deuteronomy 32:8

(8) When the Most High gave nations their homes And set the divisions of humanity, [God] fixed the boundaries of peoples In relation to Israel’s numbers.

סנהדרין ק״ט ב:ז׳

כִּי הֲוָה מִתְרְמֵי לְהוּ עַנְיָא יְהַבוּ לֵיהּ כֹּל חַד וְחַד דִּינָרָא וּכְתִיב שְׁמֵיהּ עֲלֵיהּ וְרִיפְתָּא לָא הֲווֹ מַמְטֵי לֵיהּ כִּי הֲוָה מָיֵת אָתֵי כֹּל חַד וְחַד שָׁקֵיל דִּידֵיהּ

Sanhedrin 109b:7

When a poor person would happen to come to Sodom, each and every person would give him a dinar, and the name of the giver was written on each dinar. And they would not give or sell him bread, so that he could not spend the money and would die of hunger. When he would die, each and every person would come and take his dinar.

במדבר ט״ו:ט״ז

(טז) תּוֹרָ֥ה אַחַ֛ת וּמִשְׁפָּ֥ט אֶחָ֖ד יִהְיֶ֣ה לָכֶ֑ם וְלַגֵּ֖ר הַגָּ֥ר אִתְּכֶֽם׃ {פ}

Numbers 15:16

(16) the same ritual and the same rule shall apply to you and to the stranger who resides among you.

שמות כ״ג:ל״ג

(לג) לֹ֤א יֵשְׁבוּ֙ בְּאַרְצְךָ֔ פֶּן־יַחֲטִ֥יאוּ אֹתְךָ֖ לִ֑י כִּ֤י תַעֲבֹד֙ אֶת־אֱלֹ֣הֵיהֶ֔ם כִּֽי־יִהְיֶ֥ה לְךָ֖ לְמוֹקֵֽשׁ׃ {פ}

Exodus 23:33

(33) They shall not remain in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me; for you will serve their gods—and it will prove a snare to you.

דברים כ״ג:ט״ז

(טז) לֹא־תַסְגִּ֥יר עֶ֖בֶד אֶל־אֲדֹנָ֑יו אֲשֶׁר־יִנָּצֵ֥ל אֵלֶ֖יךָ מֵעִ֥ם אֲדֹנָֽיו׃

Deuteronomy 23:16

(16) You shall not turn over to the master a slave who seeks refuge with you from that master.

ויקרא י״ט:ל״ד

(לד) כְּאֶזְרָ֣ח מִכֶּם֩ יִהְיֶ֨ה לָכֶ֜ם הַגֵּ֣ר ׀ הַגָּ֣ר אִתְּכֶ֗ם וְאָהַבְתָּ֥ לוֹ֙ כָּמ֔וֹךָ כִּֽי־גֵרִ֥ים הֱיִיתֶ֖ם בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲנִ֖י יהוה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃

Leviticus 19:34

(34) The strangers who reside with you shall be to you as your citizens; you shall love each one as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I יהוה am your God.

ירמיהו כ״ט:ז׳

(ז) וְדִרְשׁ֞וּ אֶת־שְׁל֣וֹם הָעִ֗יר אֲשֶׁ֨ר הִגְלֵ֤יתִי אֶתְכֶם֙ שָׁ֔מָּה וְהִתְפַּֽלְל֥וּ בַעֲדָ֖הּ אֶל־יהוה כִּ֣י בִשְׁלוֹמָ֔הּ יִהְיֶ֥ה לָכֶ֖ם שָׁלֽוֹם׃

Jeremiah 29:7

(7) And seek the welfare of the city to which I have exiled you and pray to GOD in its behalf; for in its prosperity you shall prosper.

בבא בתרא כ״א ב:י׳

אָמַר רַב הוּנָא בְּרֵיהּ דְּרַב יְהוֹשֻׁעַ: פְּשִׁיטָא לִי – בַּר מָתָא אַבַּר מָתָא אַחֲרִיתִי, מָצֵי מְעַכֵּב. וְאִי שָׁיֵיךְ בִּכְרָגָא דְּהָכָא, לָא מָצֵי מְעַכֵּב. בַּר מְבוֹאָה אַבַּר מְבוֹאָה דְּנַפְשֵׁיהּ – לָא מָצֵי מְעַכֵּב.

Bava Batra 21b:10

Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua, says: It is obvious to me that a resident of one town can prevent a resident of another town from establishing a similar business in the locale of the first individual. But if he pays the tax of that first town, he cannot prevent him from doing business there, as he too is considered a resident of the town. The resident of an alleyway cannot prevent a resident of his alleyway from practicing a particular trade there, in accordance with the opinion of the Rabbis in the baraita, and contrary to the opinion of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel.

R. Mordechai b. Hillel, Mordechai, Bava Batra 3:147: “If refugees come to the settlement fleeing fear and danger, the residents of the settlement may not stop them from attaching themselves and making enough money to keep themselves alive and caring for their households until the fury abates.” (13th-century German rabbi and posek. His chief legal commentary on the Talmud, referred to as The Mordechai, is one of the sources of the Shulchan Aruch.)

“You shall not wrong or oppress the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall not wrong with words, and you shall not oppress financially,” (Parshat Mishpatim). [Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael is a halakhic (legal) midrash on the book of Exodus that incorporates aggadic material as well, compiled around the third century in Israel.]