Elias Rosenfeld '20 to speak at Reform Judaism conference

Elias Rosenfeld '20, a Brandeis undergraduate who is an advocate for immigrants' rights in the U.S., is a featured speaker at the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism's Consultation on Conscience 2019 conference in Washington in May.

Rosenfeld will speak alongside Rev. Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network; Desmond Meade, president of the Florida Rights Restoration Commission, and Sr. Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley.

Rosenfeld is a DACA recipient or a "DREAMer," living in the United States under a Obama-era program that allows relief from the threat of deportation to more than 700,000 young adults who came to the U.S. as children. He came to the U.S. from Venezuela at age 6, on a visa granted to his mother through a program for business executives. When she died of cancer when he was in the sixth grade, he lost his own legal status in the U.S. He has spoken on behalf of DACA recipients across the country. The long-term status of DACA recipients has been the subject of longstanding political debate.

The Religious Action Center, based in Washington, serves as the hub of the Reform Movement’s social justice work.