Israel has deported 44 children of migrant workers over the past two years, the majority of which are Israeli-born. Further 312 deportation cases against children are pending, according to a report submitted with a Knesset panel by Israel’s immigration agency.
The Knesset’s special committee on migrant workers, headed by Labor lawmaker Ibtisam Mara’ana, received the Population and Immigration Authority’s report ahead of a hearing on the issue set for Monday.
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The agency argues the children of non-Israelis who overstayed their visa have no right to live in Israel and their parents must prepare to leave the country.
“By choosing to stay in Israel illegally, they expose themselves and their minor children to enforcement against them and for their removal,” the immigration authority said in a statement to the committee.
However, immigration officials stressed that they do consider special humanitarian cases, such as the death of an Israeli family member or domestic violence. “When considering a humanitarian-based request, we take into account the general circumstances of the applicant’s situation and the length of time the applicant has been in Israel, legally or illegally, the child’s age, the best interest of the child from various perspectives, the parent’s behavior while in Israel and the connection with the Israeli parent,” the statement said.
Officials from the Immigration Authority, the education, welfare and justice ministries, and representatives of various NGOs are expected to attend Monday’s meeting.
A report by the Hotline for Refugees and Migrants, an NGO providing aid to migrant workers, states that in 2011-2019 Israel arrested and deported only parents of toddlers and pre-school children, as well as exceptional cases of families that had exhausted all of their rights of appeal.
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The organization says that the immigration authority changed its policy in July 2019 and has arrested at least 67 families whose children are attending Israeli schools. The NGO’s data indicate that no students or parents have been arrested in 2021.
“Children need stability and security in order to ensure proper emotional growth,” the Israel Union of Social Workers stated in a position paper it submitted to the committee, warning of the dangers hidden in deporting the Israeli-born children of foreign citizens. “The establishment of a situation of constant uncertainty regarding their fate and the fate of their family, as well as a continuous fear of being uprooted from their natural environment, is liable to trigger anxiety and damage their mental health. Arresting and jailing them are potentially traumatic events in and of themselves.”
In a letter sent last month to Education Minister Yifat Shaha-Biton, parents of pupils at the Herzilya Gymnasia high school in Tel Aviv wrote: “This incomprehensible reality influences both our children, and their empathy for their friends causes anxiety and mental anguish. We see the Education Ministry as the body responsible for the wellbeing of students in the education system, including the welfare of children without legal status as well as the school community. Given this responsibility, the Education Ministry should promise that the sword of deportation will be removed from pupils.”
On Sunday, a court rejected the second petition by attorney Shira Ratzon for a restraining order against the deportation of Kultida Lev, the mother of 7-year-old Danielle Lev. The judge, Anat Singer, ruled that the issue will be heard next month and that there is no place for Ratzon to argue that a restraining order would preserve the status quo “at a time when the current situation is one of residing in Israel without permission to do so.”
