Hundreds of high school students in Tel Aviv protested June 17 against the order to deport their friends from Israel — about a hundred youths who were born in Israel to migrant workers from the Philippines. On June 24, a larger protest was staged with the participation of students and teachers from the 12 schools where the children threatened with deportation study.

The state intends to deport about a hundred Filipina migrant workers with their children at the end of the school year, at the end of June, since their work visas have expired. “These are foreign nationals who have stayed in Israel for a very long period in violation of the law and without a legal status,” the Israeli Population and Immigration Authority stated. “In some cases, the father of the children returned to his homeland. These workers were arrested because of their illegal status, but out of consideration and a desire to work with them it was decided to allow their children to finish the school year and to let the mothers leave of their own accord with their children and return home. We regret the attempt to exploit this considerate decision.”

The mothers are now trying to pressure the government to cancel the deportation order. On June 11, dozens of them protested with their children in front of the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem. The children held signs that read, “I grew up here, I dream in Hebrew, let me continue dreaming,” “Why do you want to deport me?” and “Israel is my home, let me stay home.” They chanted, among other things, “Don’t arrest children, don’t deport children, children are not criminals,” “Here is my home, here I was born” and “We love Israel, don’t deport Israeli children.”

At the same time, parent committees from several schools sent a sharply worded letter to Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, protesting the decision. In addition, 80 mental health professionals sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning of irreversible harm to the children.