Anti-Trump protest in Manhattan
Anti-Trump protest in ManhattanReuters

Nineteen Jewish members of the clergy were arrested at a protest of President Donald Trump's refugee ban in front of the Trump International Hotel in New York City.

The rabbis, who had gathered as part of a conference hosted by human rights group "T'ruah," were arrested for obstructing traffic in front of the hotel. After marching with a group of about 200 through Manhattan, they sat in front of the hotel and ignored repeated police warnings to disperse.

"Headed to 33rd precinct as one of 18 rabbis arrested tonight to send message that Jewish community stands with refugees & immigrants & refuses to let US close its borders again. #neveragain," T'ruah Executive Director Jill Jacobs posted on Facebook just before 9:30pm, about an hour after many of the protesters had left.

Protesters, many of them rabbis, came to the demonstration wearing prayer shawls, while others blew shofars to signal their opposition to the ban on refugees and nationals of seven predominantly Muslim countries enacted Jan. 27. One week later, a federal judge issued a temporary stay on the order.

The crowd, barricaded by police, chanted "No hate, no fear, refugees are welcome here." Protesters held signs reading "My People Were Refugees Too" and "Another Rabbi Standing For Justice."

T'ruah is one of several Jewish groups which has opposed several of the president's policies both during the campaign and since the election. Though they claim to be an organization of rabbis, in fact T'ruah is a leftist liberal, pro-Arab, anti-Israel movement which represents neither American Orthodoxy nor the American rabbinate.