Israel Matzav

Illegal immigration can be stopped

Those of you in the American Southwest will appreciate this story. Over 10,000 immigrants entered Israel legally in 2012. Less than 100 entered in 2013. The difference is in the picture above - a fence along the Egyptian border, which was being used by illegals from Africa to cross into Israel.

There are currently some 53,636 African migrants in Israel, and only some 36 were caught crossing into the country in 2013, according to Population, Immigration, and Borders Authority (PIBA) statistics on foreigners in Israel published on Tuesday.

The numbers are a sharp contrast to the year before, when over the course of all of 2012, before the Egypt border fence was built, some 10,440 African migrants entered Israel illegally, according to PIBA figures from the beginning of 2013. In addition to the 36, a further 59 illegal migrants were caught by immigration officials elsewhere inside Israel, after having crossed the border undetected.

In a report issued back in April, the figure stood at 54,721, which would appear to indicate that 1,085 have either willingly left Israel or been reported over the past six months or so. In figures from late June 2012, the number stood at 57,193, a difference of 3,557. That number is higher than official estimates that have been given by government officials, which have varied from 1,000-2,000.

The 53,336 figure for October 2013 includes 35,987 migrants from Eritrea (67%), 13,249 from Sudan (25%), and 4,400 from other countries.

The figures also state that there are some 69,449 legal foreign workers in Israel, as well as 14,847 illegal foreign workers, and 93,000 tourists on overstayed visas.

Tell that to your Congresscritter. 

Labels: Egyptian border fence, illegal immigration

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:58 PM