Sammie Moshenberg, director of Washington operations for the National Council of Jewish Women, was among more than 100 activists arrested Thursday at an immigration reform demonstration at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington.
Spokeswoman Brianne Nadeau said she didn’t know the charge against Moshenberg, and that she expected Moshenberg would be able to post bail later in the day.
Moshenberg said the mass arrests, part of a planned program of civil disobedience under the auspices of the We Belong Together: Women for Common Sense Immigration Reform organization, was designed to urge the House of Representatives to take action on comprehensive immigration legislation.
The group of protestors included immigrant and US-born, documented and undocumented women, some of whom told their lives’ stories.
“As Jews, we have lived the immigrant experience in the not-so-distant past,” said Moshenberg. “NCJW remains committed to achieving a new immigration process that will keep families together and create a path to citizenship for immigrants currently living in the shadows in our communities.”
A veteran activist and former public school teacher, Moshenberg worked in South Africa after the post-apartheid’s first open elections in 1994, helping to draft the country’s new constitution and volunteer in HIV/AIDS advocacy.
steve@jewishweek.org
