sign reads: "this jew loves Muslims — RESIST"
A protester's sign at San Francisco International Airport, January 2017.(Photo/Hannah Rubin)

Local synagogues, Lehrhaus join HIAS protest of refugee ban

Several Bay Area Jewish institutions will take part in the National Day of Jewish Action for Refugees, with local events planned in San Francisco and Mountain View on Sunday, Feb. 12.

Organized nationally by HIAS, the Jewish organization that resettles refugees and asylum-seekers, the Day of Jewish Action protests the Trump administration’s executive order banning immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries and halting the influx of refugees from around the world. Events are planned in 10 cities.

The San Francisco event takes place at 3 p.m. at the Holocaust Memorial at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor. Sponsors include Congregations Beth Sholom and Emanu-El of San Francisco, Kol Shofar of Tiburon, Rodef Sholom of San Rafael, and Lehrhaus Judaica. The South Bay event takes place at noon at the Mountain View Civic Center. Congregation Beth Am of Los Altos Hills is sponsoring.

On Feb. 7, HIAS filed suit in U.S. District Court in Maryland against President Donald Trump, the Department of Homeland Security and others to vacate the executive order, which was stayed by a lower court last week. Lawyers from the ACLU filed the complaint. As of press time, a federal court in San Francisco was considering the administration’s appeal of that stay.