Community Safety Campaign

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Reject Repressive Conditions of the Nonprofit Security Grants Program

Action toolkit
Press release

August 22, 2025

Safety and Dignity for All: Our Communities Reject the Revised Conditions of the Nonprofit Security Grant Program

We, the signatories of this letter, believe that all of us deserve to be safe in our synagogues, mosques, churches, temples, houses of worship, schools, community spaces, homes and on our streets. Therefore, we reject the revised conditions of the Department of Homeland Security’s Nonprofit Security Grants Program. 

The NSGP provides hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to nonprofit organizations at risk of attacks to improve building security and infrastructure. While the program addresses some communal security needs, it provides an insidious cover for the systemic violence caused by the Department of Homeland Security as well as other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. 

We are religious, spiritual, and faith leaders, nonprofits, congregations, communities, and organizations that pledge to halt and withdraw any applications for funding until the DHS removes the alarming restrictions for grantees that require compliance with ICE, forbid diversity, equity, and inclusion programming, and prohibit legally-protected boycotts in support of Palestinian rights.

Let us be clear with our community members, our neighbors, our elected officials, and the public: we are committed to upholding our communal values and will not comply with these repressive conditions. 

Over recent months, the DHS has quietly updated its FY 2025 Grant Terms and Conditions document twice, adding new guidelines that require any grant recipient to certify that they will cooperate with ICE agents and will not engage in any DEI efforts, or constitutionally-protected boycotts in support of Palestinian rights. (See Sections 9 and 17 of the current document, dated April 18 but uploaded in August). Based on these updated terms and conditions, the Council on American Islamic Relations, the largest Muslim civil rights organization in the US, has advised all nonprofit organizations against applying for NSGP funding, noting that the new terms and conditions “pose an unprecedented threat to religious freedom, free speech, and the moral independence of civil society groups and houses of worship.”

Some of our organizations have applied for and received funding from NSGP previously; others have chosen not to engage with this program. We represent many denominations, backgrounds, and political perspectives. Nonetheless, we are unified in refusing to capitulate to conditions that would require us to sacrifice the safety and dignity of our community members,  neighbors, and partners in order to receive funding.

These new conditions are indicative of a larger issue with the NSGP grants: the federal program is funded and managed by the Department of Homeland Security, tying our communities’ security needs to an agency whose 20+ year history has been shaped by the criminalization and surveillance of immigrants and people of color, particularly Muslim and Arab communities.

We are also concerned that prominent advocates of the NSGP have spoken out in support of repressive policies: for example, we are horrified that the CEO of the Secure Community Network, a Jewish organization that actively supports synagogues to apply for and accept funding from the NSGP, called for the deportation of international students involved in campus protests (which hundreds of rabbis then spoke out against). 

Without funding from NSGP, we still pledge to invest in our communities’ wellness and safety. As leaders, congregations, communities, and organizations, we commit to:  

  1. Advocating with our elected officials and peers to reject the repressive guidelines for the NSGP and to shift the program out of the DHS;
  2. Training our community members and partners in de-escalation, emergency response, and other community safety skills to build our collective capacities for ensuring greater safety;
  3. Investing in relationships with our neighbors and other communities, especially those impacted by racist and repressive policies, to co-develop community-based safety collaborations.

Safety cannot be achieved by criminalizing, silencing, detaining and deporting the most vulnerable members of our communities. We invite all congregations, nonprofits, and faith leaders to join us in taking a public stand against the DHS’s repressive new conditions.

—Organized by Community Safety Campaign (CSC), a fiscally sponsored project of Jews for Racial & Economic Justice (JFREJ)

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ORGANIZATIONS (70)

Listed alphabetically

  1. American Council for Judaism
  2. Avodah
  3. Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation
  4. Bend the Arc: Jewish Action
  5. Beyt Tikkun Synagogue
  6. Boston Workers Circle 
  7. Brooklyn Heights Synagogue – Coalition for the Refugee and Immigration Crisis
  8. Carolina Jews for Justice 
  9. Center for Career Development and Ministry
  10. Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice
  11. Collaborative Center for Justice
  12. Congregation Bet Haverim
  13. Congregation B’nai Israel
  14. Congregation Dor Hadash
  15. Congregation T’chiyah
  16. Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
  17. Detroit Jews for Justice
  18. First Parish in Wayland 
  19. Flatbush and Shaare Torah Jewish Center
  20. Hartford Jewish Organizing Collective 
  21. Hinenu Baltimore
  22. IfNotNow
  23. Indiana Center for Middle East Peace
  24. Interfaith Action for Human Rights
  25. Jewish Community Action
  26. Jews for Racial & Economic Justice
  27. Jewish Peace Fellowship 
  28. Jewish Voice for Peace
  29. Jewish Voice for Peace Havurah Network
  30. Kavod Boston: Community Safety Team
  31. Kesher Pittsburgh
  32. Kol Tzedek
  33. Kolot Chayeinu/Voices of Our Lives
  34. Liberating Lineages Collective
  35. Kehilla Community Synagogue
  36. Kirkridge Retreat & Study Center
  37. Kol Ami: A Center for Jewish Life
  38. Malkhut (Queens, New York)
  39. Makom Triangle
  40. Matir Asurim: Jewish Care Network for Incarcerated People
  41. Maryland Communities United
  42. Mending Minyan Synagogue
  43. Mitsui Collective
  44. Mixed Operations
  45. Montgomery County Jewish Collective
  46. Muslims for Just Futures 
  47. Nefesh LA
  48. Nehar Shalom Community Synagogue (Jamaica Plain, MA)
  49. New Synagogue Project
  50. Never Again Action
  51. Or Hadash: A Reconstructionist Congregation 
  52. Portland (Oregon) Jewish Community Members
  53. Rabbis for Ceasefire
  54. Society for Humanistic Judaism
  55. St Paul and St Andrew UMC
  56. Strange Fire Offerings
  57. Taste of Olam Haba 
  58. Temple Beth El (Stamford, CT)
  59. Temple B’nai Hayim (Sherman Oaks, CA)
  60. Temple Without Walls
  61. The Palestine Justice Network of the Presbyterian Church USA Bay Area
  62. The Peace Education Center Of The Hudson Valley
  63. The Shalom Center
  64. Tikkun Olam Chavurah
  65. Tzedek Chicago
  66. Tzedek Tirdof Havurah
  67. Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence (MA)
  68. Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East
  69. Unitarian Universalist Church at Washington Crossing
  70. Unitarian Universalist Service Committee

COMMUNAL LEADERS (138)

Listed alphabetically by last name

  1. Rabbi Leora Abelson
  2. Rabbi Doug Alpert
  3. Kohenet Deborah Apple
  4. Jane Ariel, Ph.D
  5. Rabbi Melanie Aron
  6. Rabbi Susan Averbach
  7. Rev. Caro Barschow
  8. Rabbi David Basior
  9. Rev. John Bell
  10. Joel Beinin
  11. Rabbi Julie Bressler
  12. Rabbi Philip J. Bentley
  13. Rev. Cindy Worthington-Berry (First Congregational Church, Natick MA)
  14. Rabbi Binyamin Biber (Humanist Chaplain, American University)
  15. Rabbi Noah Rubin-Blose
  16. Rabbi Lexie Botzum
  17. Kohenet Shoshana A Brown
  18. Rabbi Jeffrey Brown
  19. Michèle Michal Burger
  20. Rev. Dr. Madelyn Campbell
  21. Rabbi Debra Cantor
  22. Rabbi Adam Chalom
  23. Rev. Eric Cherry
  24. Rabbi Prof. Aryeh Cohen
  25. Rabbi Howard A. Cohen
  26. Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels
  27. Rev. Heather Concannon
  28. Rev. Emily Conger
  29. Rev. Julie Conrady
  30. Rabbi David Cooper
  31. Stosh Cotler
  32. Maya Crystal
  33. Rabbi Meryl Crean
  34. Rabbi Robin Damsky
  35. Inette Dishler
  36. Rabbi Robert Dobrusin
  37. Rabbi Malka Drucker
  38. Max DuBoff
  39. Rev. Martha Durkee-Neuman (First Church UU, Belmont MA)
  40. Rabbi Dr. Barat Ellman
  41. Greg M. Epstein (Humanist Chaplain, Harvard & MIT)
  42. Rev. Ariel Aaronson-Eves
  43. Ev Evnen
  44. Jennifer Faer
  45. Rabbi Zev-Hayyim Feyer
  46. Rabbi Richard Flom
  47. Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife
  48. Rabbi Jacob Fine
  49. Rabbi Daniel Fink
  50. Rabbi Gail A. Fisher
  51. Rabbi Betsy Forester
  52. David Frankfurter
  53. Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman
  54. Amanda Geffner (Temple Beth El, Stamford CT)
  55. Laura Gillette
  56. Rabbi Dr. Miriyam Glazer
  57. Rabbi Dr. Laura Gold
  58. Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
  59. Rabbi Shelley Goldman
  60. Rabbi Lisa Greene
  61. Rabbi Miriam Grossman
  62. Rabbi Chaya Gusfield
  63. Rabbi Dr. Joshua Gutoff
  64. Rev. Dr. Debra W. Haffner
  65. Rabbi Maurice Harris
  66. Rabbi Jill Hausman
  67. Rabbi Greg Hersh
  68. Rabbi Moshe Heyn
  69. Rev. Ellie VerGowe Highlands
  70. Rabbi Margaret Holub
  71. Rabbi Rebecca Hornstein
  72. Rev. Annie Gonzalez
  73. Rev. Lara Hoke (First Church UU, Littleton MA)
  74. Rabbi David Jaffe
  75. Rev. Dr. Myke Johnson
  76. Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster
  77. elly kalfus
  78. Rabbi Ariana Katz
  79. Rev. Dexter Kearny
  80. Rabbi Lonnie Kleinman
  81. Cornelia Klimczak
  82. Rabbi Jeremy Kridel
  83. Rabbi Adam Lautman
  84. Rabbi Mordechai Liebling
  85. Rabbi Allen Lipson
  86. Jennifer Lewin
  87. Rabbi Sam Levine
  88. Sydney Levy
  89. Rabbi Ellen Lippmann
  90. Hilary Lustick
  91. Bettny Mazur
  92. Rev Joan MacPherson
  93. Rev. Kathleen McTigue
  94. Karrie Ann Melendrez
  95. Rabbi Margot Meitner
  96. Rev. Jennifer Mihok
  97. Rabbi Rachel S. Mikva (Chicago Theological Seminary)
  98. Rabbi Heather Miller
  99. Rabbi Jessica Minnen
  100. Nora Lester Murad
  101. Rabbi Robert Nosanchuk
  102. Rev. Elizabeth Nguyen
  103. Joan R. O’Brien
  104. Marie O’Brien
  105. Rev. Katie Omberg (Area Conference Minister, Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ)
  106. Samantha Paulin
  107. Rev. Trina Portillo
  108. Rev. Shari Halliday-Quan (Senior Minister of First Unitarian Church, Rochester NY)
  109. Rabbi Max Reynolds
  110. Rev. Jamie Hinson-Rieger
  111. Rev. Erica Richmond
  112. Rabbi Ariella Rosen
  113. Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg
  114. Rabbi Francine Roston
  115. Phyllis Rothman
  116. Kohenet Yepeth Perla Rubin (Roots and Trails)
  117. Rabbi Dr. J.B. Sacks
  118. Rev. Elizabeth Bukey Saunter (First Church UU, Jamaica Plain MA)
  119. Rabbi Judith Seid
  120. Rabbi Randy Sheinberg
  121. Rabbi Jessica K. Shimberg
  122. Rabbi Becky Silverstein
  123. Rabbi Suzanne Singer (Riverside CA)
  124. Rev. Fred Small
  125. Rabbi Ruth H. Sohn
  126. Rabbi Robin Sparr
  127. Dr. Michael Spath
  128. Rev. Dr. Gary Strichartz
  129. Malka Svei
  130. Rabbi Shifrah Tobacman
  131. Rabbi Aron Wander
  132. Rabbi Michael Hess Webber
  133. Kaethe Weingarten
  134. Rabbi Rachel Weiss
  135. Rabbi Simkha Y. Weintraub (Mt Airy, Philadelphia PA)
  136. Rabbi Alissa Wise
  137. Joseph Wolf
  138. Rabbi Benjamin Zober
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website by CSC 2025 – art by Francis Mead