Olim Threaten To Go To High Court Over US Travel Ban

By JPost
Posted on 12/23/21 | News Source: JPost

The Yad L’Olim organization has sent a warning letter to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit and other government officials demanding immediate approval of immigrants’ travel plans to the US to maintain their jobs and visit family.

The NGO, led by former MK Dov Lipman and represented by lawyer Aviad Hacohen, has given the government until Sunday to arrive at a solution to the logjam blocking olim from flying, which could lead to hundreds of new immigrants losing their US-based jobs and cost family members their last chances to visit dying relatives.

With the fifth wave of corona leading to new restrictions on flying to the US and much of the world, even dual US-Israeli citizens are now facing obstacles to travel to America.

According to Lipman, there are hundreds or even thousands of olim who are trying to get to the US to maintain their livelihood, to get married, or to attend to other critical family issues.

However, unlike some of the previous flying restrictions – when dual US-Israeli citizens could fly but faced quarantine upon their return to Israel – many immigrants including those with critical issues are getting rejected from a special approvals committee that is supposed to handle the issue.