By Asaf Elia-Shalev
With $274 million in federal security grants scheduled, dozens of progressive Jewish groups and several synagogues say they will boycott the program.
In an open letter, they said they can’t accept the strings attached to the money, despite the risk of being targeted with violence.
The letter responds to the Dept. of Homeland Security’s new requirements that grantees support federal immigration enforcement and avoid DEI programs.
“We are committed to upholding our communal values and will not comply with these repressive conditions,” reads the letter.
Some Jewish leaders press those in need of funds to apply, arguing that objections may be settled before recipients must agree to the conditions.
Signatories include progressive groups, including Bend the Arc, and anti-Israel groups, such as Jewish Voice for Peace. Signatories also include a handful of synagogues. Other synagogues, not signatories, have also decided to boycott the program as long as the conditions are in place, such as Rodeph Shalom in Philadelphia.
“Jewish Federations of North America strongly encourage institutions in our communities to apply for critical, life-saving Nonprofit Security Grant Program funds,” says JFNA’s CEO, Eric Fingerhut.
“We are working closely with DHS and stand ready to provide guidance to any institution seeking support around this process and raise any issues that come up along the way.”
A JFNA spokesperson says that its officials have come away from meetings with DHS optimistic that Jewish institutions would not need to compromise on their values to secure the security grants.
JFNA was a leading force in building the grant program, which is run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency under DHS.
Created in 2004 and expanded after the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in 2018, it is the main federal source of money for houses of worship and nonprofits to bolster protection against terrorism and hate-motivated violence.
Rising concerns about anti-Semitic attacks have sharply increased demand for the grants, for which Jewish groups have also encouraged other houses of worship to apply.
The grants can cover things like cameras, alarm and alert systems, hired guards, fencing and barriers, or screening tools such as metal detectors.
They are meant to help nonprofits strengthen both physical and digital security.
Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, shares the concerns raised by the progressive and anti-Israel groups but is still urging congregational rabbis and lay leaders to apply. Submitting applications now, she says, gives communities time before deciding whether to accept the funds — time in which the Trump administration could rescind the conditions.
“There is a deadline by which they have to apply, and the terms and conditions only kick in if you accept the funding, so there is still time,” she said.
On the conditions concerning immigration enforcement, the Trump administration might have already retreated.
DHS had unveiled conditions that were said to apply to all DHS funding.
Soon after, 20 states filed a lawsuit arguing that it is illegal to condition government funding on assisting with federal immigration enforcement, handled through the agency known as ICE.
One impetus for the lawsuit was the worry that the Trump administration would withhold disaster recovery funds from victims of the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles earlier this year.
In a June 6 filing, federal lawyers defended the immigration-related conditions by saying they wouldn’t be applied to a range of grant programs, including the one for securing nonprofits.
Then, in late July, DHS appeared to confirm the exception.
The change was short-lived because about two weeks later, on Aug. 13, DHS released another notice featuring new language that seemed to contradict the earlier exemption.
Spitalnick, whose team has been tracking the issue for months, communicating regularly with federal and state officials, said she was told the latest language is a mistake that will be corrected in a forthcoming notice.
She acknowledged how dizzying the bureaucracy can be for prospective applicants.
“We have heard extensive confusion and concern from national, state, and local Jewish and interfaith partners,” she said.
To clear things up — and because rules against DEI are firmly in place — Spitalnick on August 22 sent a letter pleading with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
“Our communities desperately rely on this security funding — and they need clarity that what they are agreeing to in accepting these funds won’t force them to override their deeply held religious values and beliefs.”
It wouldn’t be the first time the Trump administration retreated after placing conditions on government money.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration floated a requirement that applicants for disaster relief funds pledge not to support boycotts of Israel. While that provision was withdrawn after legal and political pushback, vague language against “discriminatory prohibited boycott” still appears in broader DHS rules, leaving some uncertainty about enforcement.
DHS didn’t respond to questions from JTA, instead releasing a statement that the department “will no longer fund grant projects that don’t align with President Trump’s priorities.”
“Unlike the previous administration, grants will no longer be used to support DEI agendas, and illegal aliens in our country.
“These Biden focused initiatives don’t serve the interest of the American People.”
Two groups that have long championed the security grant program, the ADL and Secure Community Network, didn’t respond to questions from JTA.
