Espaillat, Co-Chairs of the Latino Jewish Caucus Statement on Congregation Beth Israel attack

Statement

The Co-Chairs of the Latino Jewish Congressional Caucus issued the following statement regarding the hostage situation at Beth Israel Congregation in Colleyville, TX, Saturday, January 15:

"As co-chairs of the Latino Jewish Congressional Caucus, we are horrified and outraged by yet another violent, antisemitic attack on a synagogue, this time during religious services at Beth Israel Congregation in Colleyville, Texas. We stand in solidarity with the victims and with the U.S. Jewish community as a whole, and we are grateful to the federal, state, and local law enforcement officials who worked tirelessly to secure the release of the four hostages.

The severity of this act should not be understated. We are alarmed by the rise in hate-filled rhetoric and violence against the Jewish community, which threatens civil society and egalitarian principles that are essential to our democracy. With synagogue attacks in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Poway, California fresh in our minds, all fellow citizens who cherish justice, freedom, equality, and rule of law must loudly and strongly condemn these acts of antisemitism. We must work together in our communities to banish this evil from our midst.

As lawmakers, we cannot allow the recent spike in antisemitic attacks to be met with silence. According to the FBI, Jews were the target of 55 percent of all religiously motivated hate crimes in 2020, despite accounting for only 2 percent of the U.S. population. This is a startling statistic that must be condemned and defeated with strong, concerted action. It is up to all of us -- Latinos, Jews, and others -- to end this scourge. We must utilize all resources at our disposal, including increased security for those communities vulnerable to hate crimes, enhanced coordination among security and intelligence agencies, and the creation of a national plan to address this scourge.

As a bipartisan group of Latino and Jewish lawmakers, as partners and allies, we denounce the resurgence of antisemitism, and the ongoing increase in hate crimes which is an anathema to our country's values. We stand together to reject violence, particularly when motivated by hatred or bigotry, and to reiterate our support of the Jewish community in the wake of the horrific attack in Texas."

Co-chaired by Representatives Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), and Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA), the Latino Jewish Caucus continues its critical work fostering close collaboration between the U.S. Latino and Jewish communities, fighting the uptick in antisemitism and other forms of hate while strengthening trilateral ties among the U.S., Latin America and Israel based on shared histories, values, and interests.

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