Approved law bars illegal migrants from sending money out of country

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Knesset has approved a law that would bar illegal migrants from sending money out of the country and limit how much they can take when they leave.

Two amendments to the Law for the Prevention of Infiltration passed Monday night on second and third reading would prevent the illegal migrants from sending money out of Israel while they are living in the country, and would limit the amount they can take with them when they leave to no more than the sum of their minimum monthly salary, multiplied by the number of months they have been in Israel.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voted for the law, according to a statement issued by his office. “We have blocked the phenomenon of infiltration into Israel. Last month only two infiltrators crossed the border, as opposed to over 2,000 one year ago. Now we are focusing on the infiltrators’ departure from Israel. Several thousand infiltrators have already left Israel and we are continuing to work on repatriating the illegal work infiltrators already here,” Netanyahu said in the statement.

On Sunday, Netanyahu called for the repatriation of illegal migrants’ days after a government attorney said Israel has reached an agreement with unnamed counties to repatriate migrants from Sudan and Eritrea.

Israel cannot deport Eritrean nationals because they could be killed or imprisoned. Sudanese nationals are not deported because Israel does not have diplomatic relations with Sudan.