Immigration authorities have ordered the deportation of a 63-year-old Filipino woman who has lived in Israel for 18 years, despite her husband’s indictment for battery. The 30-day order against Yehudit Tal was issued earlier this month after her husband, an Israeli citizen, put a halt to the naturalization proceedings he had begun on her behalf.
The man was indicted for assaulting, injuring and threatening her in 2018, and subsequent legal proceedings should have preempted a deportation order, at least temporarily.
Under the regulations governing deportations of foreigners married to abusive Israelis, Tal should have been granted a hearing by an inter-ministerial committee before the deportation order was issued. But the Population and Immigration Authority ordered her deported immediately, without a hearing, on the grounds that she reported the abuse only after her husband announced his intent to divorce her.