State Department Explores Extending Asylum to British Jews: Report

The State Department reportedly is exploring the possibility of offering asylum to British Jews fleeing antisemitism, according to comments attributed to President Trump’s personal lawyer, Robert Garson, by a British newspaper.Mr. Garson initiated conversations with the Trump administration about making America a sanctuary for Britain’s Jewish community, telling the Sunday Telegraph that he believes the United Kingdom has become “no longer a safe place for Jews.”Mr. Garson, who is Jewish and grew up in an orthodox Jewish area of Manchester, England, said that his assessment was formed by the October slaying of two Jewish men outside of a Manchester synagogue by an Islamic extremist. He also cited the rise in antisemitism that followed Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack, a surge he said Prime Minister Keir Starmer has allowed to grow unchecked. “Keir Starmer has turned a total blind eye to antisemitism,” Mr. Garson told the Telegraph. “The Prime Minister has allowed rampant antisemitism to become commonplace in society and has allowed it to come from those who really don’t have Britain’s best interests at heart.”Mr. Garson said he raised the asylum proposal with President Trump’s special envoy for combating antisemitism, Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, who serves as an ambassador working out of the State Department. He also discussed the idea in his capacity as a board member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.“When I look at what is going on with Jews in Britain, and when I look at the changing demographics, I don’t believe — and I have discussed this with people in the Trump administration — that there is a future for Jews in the United Kingdom,” he said. “For me, that is particularly sad.”He characterized the arrangement as “certainly not an unattractive proposition,” noting that British Jews represent “a populace that speaks English natively, that is educated and doesn’t have a high proportion of criminals.” He added: “There were conversations.” Mr. Garson has not yet responded to the Sun’s request for comment. Antisemitism has spiked globally in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 massacre, and Britain’s Jews have reported feeling increasingly unsafe. A 2025 survey conducted by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research found that 35 percent of British Jews felt unsafe in their country — a significant surge from the 9 percent who reported such feelings in 2023. Nearly half of British Jews in 2025 said they viewed antisemitism as a “very big” problem, compared to just 11 percent in 2012.

State Department Explores Extending Asylum to British Jews: Report

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