US senator calls to increase non-profit security grant funding in light of rising antisemitism

Rosen urged Congress to reform the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which helps at-risk houses of worship offset security costs like hiring guards, installing cameras, and reinforcing doors.

US Senator for Nevada Jacky Rosen called for a major expansion of federal security funding for religious institutions on Monday, warning that American Jewish communities are facing an unprecedented wave of threats and violence during the High Holy Days.

Speaking on the Senate floor, Rosen, co-founder and co-chair of the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, highlighted the severe financial and psychological toll facing congregations as they mark Rosh Hashanah and approach Yom Kippur.

Citing data from a recent Anti-Defamation League report, she noted that 2025 was the third-highest year on record for antisemitic incidents in the US, with physical assaults against Jewish individuals reaching historic highs.

According to FBI data, “Jewish Americans were the target of nearly 70% of religiously motivated hate crimes in the country in 2025, despite making up just 2% of the population," Rosen noted during her address.

The senator pointed to a string of violent attacks across the country over the past year, including a historic synagogue firebombing in Jackson, Mississippi, and vandalism at congregations in Austin, Texas; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Hot Springs, Arkansas; and Oak Park, Michigan. She also referenced an attack in West Bloomfield, Michigan, where a man drove his car into a building housing a synagogue and preschool before opening fire.

Reflecting on her recent visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum in Poland, Rosen warned against societal indifference to rising prejudice. "The Holocaust did not only happen because of the Nazis, but because of millions of people who also kept silent in the face of dehumanization and prejudice," she stated.

Rosen: Security expenses are largest portion of congregations' operational budgets

Drawing on her prior experience as the president of the largest Reform synagogue in Nevada, Rosen emphasized that security expenses now consume the largest portion of many congregations' operational budgets. She cited a study from the Jewish Federations of North America showing that the Jewish community now spends an average of $1 billion a year on security.

"In the United States in 2026, we have Americans who have to worship behind locked doors and bulletproof glass protected by armed guards just to be with their family and friends and pray," Rosen said.

Rosen pushes Congress to reform Nonprofit Security Grant Program 

To address the mounting crisis, Rosen urged Congress to fully fund and reform the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which helps at-risk houses of worship offset security costs like hiring guards, installing cameras, and reinforcing doors.

She highlighted her bipartisan legislation, the Jewish American Security Act, introduced alongside Senator James Lankford, which aims to nearly triple funding for the program and establish a new Department of Justice grant initiative to help state and local law enforcement protect vulnerable houses of worship.

"We cannot wait for the next attack, we cannot wait for another synagogue to be targeted, and we cannot wait for another family to be afraid just to walk through the doors of their own house of worship," Rosen concluded.