I am an American. I am a Jew. I am a Zionist. I am horrified that Texas Democratic congressional candidate Maureen Galindo made an obscene statement recently as part of her campaign for US Congress that she will turn the Karnes ICE Detention Center into a “prison for American Zionists.” To make matters simple, I sent her an email and told her to come get me.
I am horrified that while some have condemned her, the condemnation has not been from millions of Americans offended equally by her poisonous and dangerous proposal. The “good news” in Galindo’s denial of her proposal is that she openly states she is not specifically targeting Jews. She’s targeting all Zionists. This is all the more reason why millions of Americans should be offended, because to be a Zionist is simply to affirm the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state. My question to Maureen is: why are you NOT a Zionist? If you’re not a Zionist and want to imprison all of us who are, you are more dangerous than all the tropes you use to twist what a Zionist means and the accusations attributed to being a Zionist.
So, what’s the truth and what’s so bad about it? Galindo, running in Texas’s 35th Congressional District (including San Antonio, which is home to CUFI, one of the largest Zionist organizations in America), publicly declared on Instagram that if elected, she would introduce legislation to turn the Karnes ICE Detention Center into a “prison for American Zionists” and former ICE officers. She went further, describing it as a “castration processing center for pedophiles, which will probably be most of the Zionists.” This is not political hyperbole or a misplaced joke. It is a direct call to criminalize and dehumanize millions of Americans—Jews and non-Jews alike—who support Israel’s right to exist as the Jewish state.
Zionism is simply the national liberation movement of the Jewish people. After centuries of exile, persecution, and the Holocaust’s unspeakable horrors, Jews returned to their ancestral homeland to restore sovereignty and to live free. Supporting that reality does not make one a criminal. Yet Galindo seeks to imprison people for this belief, whether rooted in faith, Biblical or modern and ancient history, or simply the fact that if dozens of Muslim states can exist and dozens of Christian states exist, there should be one Jewish state able to exist. Her words evoke the darkest chapters of history: loyalty tests, internment camps, and state-sponsored persecution of minorities. This is not “progressive” politics. It is the language of tyranny wrapped in the rhetoric of social justice.
The implications are profound. America was founded on the principle that government cannot punish citizens for their thoughts, faith, or affiliations—provided they obey the law. The First Amendment protects even unpopular speech. Like hers. Proposing to repurpose a detention facility for political opponents based on their support for a democratic ally like Israel shreds that foundation. It signals that certain Americans who stand with and affirm the right of the Jewish state to exist are no longer worthy of equal protection under the law. If this becomes normalized, who is next? Any group whose views fall outside an increasingly radical progressive orthodoxy would be in the crosshairs.
This proposal does not emerge in a vacuum. Since Hamas’s barbaric attack on October 7, 2023, antisemitism has surged across the United States. Campuses have become hotbeds of hatred, with Jewish students harassed and assaulted. Synagogues require armed security. Jewish businesses face boycotts. What was once fringe conspiracy theory, blood libel, and “Zionist Occupied Government” tropes have entered mainstream discourse in some quarters. Galindo’s comments, complete with her grotesque sexual violence fantasies against “Zionists,” represent a new low. They echo medieval accusations and 20th-century totalitarian propaganda.
Bipartisan condemnation has followed, and rightly so. Democratic leaders, including U.S. Democrats Reps. Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) and Jared Moskowitz (FL-23) have vowed to seek her expulsion from Congress if elected. Even voices typically more critical of Israel have distanced themselves. This is encouraging, but it must not stop at statements. The fact that such a candidate could win a primary runoff in a Democratic district reveals deep rot within segments of the party. Democrats unwilling to disavow this – and her – as outside the pale are no less guilty.
America’s very values are under assault when a candidate for federal office can advocate turning citizens into political prisoners without widespread outrage. This is not about left versus right. It is about whether the United States will remain a pluralistic democracy or descend into tribal authoritarianism where “wrongthink” on Israel justifies persecution, and where groupthink allows and enables it.
The downfall is incremental but accelerating: the erosion of civil discourse, the weaponization of government institutions against perceived enemies, the normalization of calls for violence against Jews and Zionists. History teaches us that societies that begin by targeting Jews rarely stop there. The same forces that demonize Israel today will turn on other pillars of Western liberty tomorrow.
I urge every American — Jew and Christian, Democrat and Republican, believer and atheist — to speak out clearly. Share your disgust on social media. Contact your representatives. Send Maureen your own letter of protest, even if you’re not in her district. Demand that political parties reject candidates who traffic in antisemitic conspiracy theories and who single out people for their support of Israel as worthy of internment. Defending the Jewish people’s right to self-determination is a litmus test for civilized values, whether one is a Jew or a gentile.
Voters, reject candidates like Maureen Galindo at the ballot box, regardless of party.
The Bible teaches us to “seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). America’s greatness stems from striving toward those ideals, however imperfectly. Imprisoning “Zionists” is neither just nor merciful. It is the opposite of humble; it is arrogant and dangerous.
If Americans of goodwill do not rise up now, we risk losing the essence of the country that has been a haven for so many, including my own relatives who fled persecution. The time to stand is today. Silence is compliance. Let your voice be heard: this hateful vision has no place in the land of the free.
As someone who spends my life building bridges between Jews and Christians, celebrating the shared values that bind our faith communities, I call upon all Jews and Christians who share this common foundation to speak up. I believe deeply in America’s promise as a beacon of liberty, justice, and human dignity. That is why the comments of Maureen Galindo are not merely offensive but also are a chilling symptom of America’s moral and democratic erosion.
Let Maureen Galindo hear from you, too: maureen4d1@gmail.com, maureengalindo@maureenforUScongress.com.