Thursday, August 9, 2012

I admit it, I am a Cryer.  I react with tears even at the most corny commercial in which two lovers unite, or a father holds his baby.  I have been on the verge of crying watching the Olympics, when an American lip syncs the National Anthem as he or she receives their gold medal.

But this made sad and angry, the story I heard in the morning news about South Sudanese migrant workers here in Israel, who have begged Israeli social services to take their children, because they cannot properly feed and house their family.  The parents making these requests cannot work in Israel on a legal basis, and say that they are afraid to be seen on the streets, lest they be deported.

They want their children to be safe, safe from poverty and starvation, and safe from the violence in their home country, if they are forced to return to Africa.

I am not a politician, and I am not a millionaire;  I don't know how to solve the illegal immigration problem in Israel, the United States or anywhere on the planet.  But the idea of a parent having to give away their child, to be raised by the welfare system just to have enough to eat, that is too much.

2 comments:

Amy Charles said...

This is horrible. Is there no amnesty provision for immigration in Israel?

Doc said...

I don't know enough about the law to answer the question. I just can't imagine the pain these parents must be feeling.