בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָפֶן

Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech Ha-olam boreh p’ri ha-gafen.
Blessed is the Source, who fills all creation and brings forth the fruit of the vine.

The United States current immigration system is broken.  We first started discussing this cup as an issue of immigant justice far before the current administration - even then we discussed individuals detained, and the state of their imprisonment.

To Consider-
Political theorists and post-modern scholars of the immigration experience invite us to place ourselves “actively” in the role of the exile, to empathize with the marginalized, to think like the refugee. This is not a new idea. In fact, through this interactive, ritual retelling of our ancient enslavement and exile that Jews are commanded to experience each year, we reaffirm our commitment to remember
not only our own past, but to place ourselves in the shoes of The Stranger and to fight for justice for all people who have been excluded, expatriated or expelled

Tying Immigration Justice to Prison Justice to Food Justice

Roughly half of U.S. farm workers are undocumented immigrants.
Source: "Cultivating Fear: The Vulnerability of Immigrant Farmworkers in the US to Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment," by Human Rights Watch.

The Justice Department has prosecuted seven cases of slavery since 1997, liberating over 1,000 farm workers from forced labor, according to Holly Burkhalter of the International Justice Mission.

Though three in 10 farm worker families earn wages below the federal poverty line, over the previous two years only 15 percent reported using Medicaid, 11 percent used the federal Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, and just 8 percent used food stamps.
Source: "At the Company's Mercy: Protecting Contingent Workers From Unsafe Working Conditions," by the Center for Progressive


haggadah Section: Koreich
Source: Jewish Council on Urban Affairs Justice and Freedom Seder 2008/5768