TEL AVIV, Israel (Reuters) -- African migrants chosen for deportation from Israel were nervously awaiting a knock on the door or a tap on the shoulder on Tuesday as immigration officials rounded up hundreds for departure flights due to begin at the weekend.
"The people are very tense. It's pretty traumatic," said Jacob Berri, a spokesman for the South Sudanese community of migrants, the first to be repatriated under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan.
"There are children here who only speak Hebrew. They won't even know the language where they're going," Berri said.
Africans were being stopped on the street and issued deportation orders, he added. "About 100 more have been arrested this morning."
Many of the migrants have been working in hotels and restaurants, while others have been holding down manual jobs or working as contracted day labor. All of them were technically working illegally. more
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