Moving Forward Together

Press Releases

Mar 8 2023

The Biden Administration’s consideration to reinstate family detentions — a practice it openly rejected throughout the campaign trail — is an abhorrent betrayal of its commitments to rebuild our nation’s broken immigration system and implement compassionate, humane policies.

Mar 2 2023

Jewish Family Service of San Diego (JFS) announced today the addition of Dave Myers as its director of safety and security. Myers brings his extensive history in law enforcement to the role, where he will oversee security for all JFS programs and services.

Feb 21 2023

The San Diego Rapid Response Network’s blueprint for humanitarian reception of people seeking asylum at its respite shelter network serves as a road map for how governments and communities across the U.S. can build upon the experiences and lessons learned from the model in San Diego.

Feb 7 2023

San Diego Rapid Response Network (SDRRN), a coalition of human rights and service organizations, attorneys, and community leaders dedicated to aiding immigrants and their families in the San Diego border region, applauds the San Diego County Board of Supervisors for voting today to plan for and support people seeking asylum.

Dec 27 2022

Due to the extreme weather conditions impacting outbound travel, our resources and current infrastructure are stretched to capacity each night. At this time, we are currently welcoming up to 300 asylum seekers daily. When conditions prevent guests from departing, we have to limit arrivals only to the most vulnerable asylum seekers released by DHS.

Dec 23 2022

Due to the extreme weather conditions impacting outbound travel, our resources and the current infrastructure have been stretched to capacity. At this time, we cannot respond to requests coming through the SDRRN emergency hotline to assist in sheltering additional asylum seekers.

Dec 1 2022

JFS has named Sunni Robertson director of volunteer engagement. With more than 17 years serving the San Diego community in the nonprofit sector, Robertson’s experience will guide JFS’s outreach to potential volunteers of all ages and backgrounds to help the nonprofit in providing resources and support to over 70,000 people every year.

Oct 20 2022

In a letter to Commissioner Magnus, The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties, ACLU of Texas, Jewish Family Service of San Diego, and the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at the UCLA School of Law, along with 83 advocacy organizations and 51 medical professionals, urge CBP to uphold the reproductive rights of migrants and not detain pregnant, postpartum, and nursing people, as well as infants, past time strictly necessary.
“All people deserve safe and adequate reproductive health care that upholds their dignity and autonomy, including those seeking their legal right to asylum in the U.S.” – Kate Clark, Esq., JFS Senior Director of Immigration Services.

Sep 20 2022

The San Diego City Council confirmed today the appointments of Jewish Family Service San Diego (JFS) Chief Operating Officer Dana Toppel and Board of Directors Member Susan Davis to the City’s newly revived Commission on the Status of Women. Former U.S. Congresswoman Davis has been appointed as the Commission’s Chair. Mayor Todd Gloria announced Toppel and Davis’s appointments on August 26, 2022, in honor of Women’s Equality Day. Both members of JFS leadership have extensive backgrounds working within the community to advance women’s equality in the workplace and beyond.

Sep 13 2022

Rabbi Freeman brings over 30 years of experience working in a variety of settings from synagogues to hospitals. She has focused on healing and the use of spiritual care as a modality to help individuals find peace with life’s most difficult situations. She often embraces tools and adaptions from the field of integrative medicine including dance yoga and mindfulness to open pathways to healing. Rabbi Freeman joins JFS after most recently serving as a chaplain and Clinical Pastoral Educator for Sharp Healthcare in San Diego.
“As an agency guided by Jewish values, having a rabbinic resource on our team, and specifically within the Center for Jewish Care, will be valuable to our staff, volunteers and board as we explore the work we do through our uniquely Jewish lens,” said JFS CEO Michael Hopkins. “We are resolved to lift our values in our advocacy work, meet the pastoral needs of individuals served by the Center for Jewish Care and amplify our sacred teachings with a contemporary perspective within our team.”

Aug 31 2022

U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety, visited the San Diego border region, and joined local NGOs and advocacy organizations to discuss their critical work to protect and welcome asylum seekers and how the federal government can support their efforts. Padilla also highlighted his commitment to protecting the right to asylum and his advocacy to create more legal pathways for migrants to safely arrive and be welcomed into the United States. As part of his visit he toured the San Diego Rapid Response Network (SDRRN) Migrant Shelter Services operated by Jewish Family Service of San Diego.

Aug 16 2022

ACLU, Jewish Family Service, UCLA Center for Immigration Law and Policy Send Letter to Secretary Mayorkas Raising Concerns Over Continued Family Separations, Calling for Justice for Separated Family.

Aug 11 2022

For the thousands of people looking for protection while they seek asylum, Jewish Family Service of San Diego (JFS) hopes that the Department of Homeland Security’s ending of the unlawful and cruel “Migrant Protection Protocols” (MPP, also known as “Remain in Mexico” policy) is the catalyst to many more actions to rebuild our immigration system into one that welcomes with compassion, safety, dignity and equity.

Jun 30 2022

Today’s Supreme Court ruling allowing the termination of the unlawful and cruel “Migrant Protection Protocols” (MPP, also known as “Remain in Mexico” policy) is a welcome relief. The Biden Administration must now take immediate action to end this devastating program.

Jun 27 2022

The San Diego City Council voted unanimously on Monday to approve Mayor Todd Gloria’s proposal to extend operations at one of the City’s Safe Parking lots to 24 hours, allowing for expanded opportunity for residents experiencing homelessness not only to safely live out of their vehicles, but also to access services and get on a path to housing.

Jun 27 2022

Jewish tradition is grounded in obligation and responsibility to ourselves, one another, and our community. As Jewish communal professionals and clergy, we understand Jewish approaches to autonomy and community have long protected the rights of reproductive freedom and justice, as exemplified by cases where health, wellness, and life are at stake.
Jewish experience tells us that our reproductive freedoms are integrally bound to our religious liberty. At the core of the Jewish tradition is the affirmation of the sanctity of life. Further, the tradition recognizes that life does not begin at conception and the wellbeing (spiritual, emotional, and physical) of the parent takes precedence over an unborn fetus.

May 23 2022

The California Welcoming Task Force held a press conference on Monday, May 23, 2022 to call for an end to Title 42.

Apr 19 2022

As we approach Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), Jewish Family Service is helping to promote a national matching initiative of our partner Kavod Shef. In 2022, 34 communities nationwide have partnered through KAVOD SHEF to address unmet needs of Holocaust Survivors. The KAVOD SHEF partnership involves collaboration between KAVOD, Seed the Dream Foundation, National Philanthropic Partners, Jewish Federations, local donors, and Jewish Family Service agencies.
KAVOD SHEF dollars directly respond to Survivor needs in nine emergency areas: food, medical, dental, vision, urgent home needs (utilities, rent, repairs), emergency home care, transportation, essential deliveries, and PPE.

Mar 11 2022

In the coming days as the plight of Ukrainians and other Eastern Europeans continues to unfold – among many other conflicts and humanitarian crises across the world – Jewish Family Service of San Diego stands at the ready to “Welcome the Stranger.” We call for the end of Title 42 and a stop to inhumanely expelling asylum seekers and migrants arriving at the U.S. border.

Mar 8 2022

Jewish Family Service of San Diego (JFS) has been awarded its 14th consecutive 4-star rating from Charity Navigator – America’s leading independent charity evaluator. With rigorous evaluations, less than 1% of the thousands of charities evaluated are awarded this recognition continuously for more than a decade.

Feb 1 2022

This past Saturday marked the three-year anniversary of the first time that a person seeking asylum was returned to Tijuana from San Diego under the cruel and unjust “Remain in Mexico” program, also known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) on January 29, 2019. Despite initially taking steps to end Remain in Mexico, the Biden administration is now reimplementing the policy and again putting the lives and asylum cases of people fleeing persecution at risk. Today, immigration judges in San Diego will preside over the first court hearings of people forced back to danger in Tijuana under the reimplemented policy.

Jan 27 2022

Jewish Family Service of San Diego (JFS), one of San Diego’s largest and most impactful nonprofit agencies, received the 2022 Kaleidoscope Award for Good Governance by The Nonprofit Institute at the University of San Diego.

Dec 8 2021

Jewish Family Service of San Diego (JFS) is offering free rides through On The Go to local seniors who want to receive COVID-19 vaccine booster shots — or the original vaccine — as part of the agency’s continued efforts to provide meaningful services to help San Diegans through pandemic challenges.

Dec 2 2021

As legal service providers and immigration advocates, Jewish Family Service of San Diego strongly urges the White House to permanently terminate MPP. We stand at the ready to help the Administration achieve its previously stated goal of rebuilding a humane immigration system, all while prioritizing public health. We must return to our nation’s long history of welcoming the stranger.

Nov 2 2021

US Senators led by Senator Blumenthal are calling for US Customs and Border Protection to stop detaining known pregnant people. This action was prompted by a formal complaint filed by JFS and the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties following a woman giving birth in a Border Patrol detention facility.