Hasidic religious worker Yehonatan Ovadia is currently being held at Metropolitan Detention Center in New York City and is facing potential deportation to Israel for his pro-Palestinian views.
The 35-year-old originally came to the US in 2022 on a temporary religious worker visa from Israel, according to The Times of Israel.
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Middle East Eye that Ovadia reentered the US in April of 2024 on a visa that later expired in November of 2025.
His lawyers told MEE that when his congregation applied to renew his worker classification, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) initially approved it through 2028 and then, days later, denied the extension "as a matter of discretion".
USCIS told Ovadia’s lawyers that it denied the extension because of a 2023 pro-Palestine protest he participated in.
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According to community members who wish to remain anonymous, Ovadia was served several charges after attending pro-Palestine demonstrations in Ramapo, New York, in November 2023, where an Israeli flag was torn down.
He was charged with criminal mischief as a hate crime, petty larceny as a hate crime, conspiracy as a hate crime, and disorderly conduct.
Ovadia admitted to participating in the protest and driving participants to the demonstration site, but denied tearing down the flag. Prosecutors eventually dropped the charges against him.
His lawyers maintain he is not a criminal and has no criminal convictions, and that the Israeli flag at the centre of his case “was likely hung unlawfully”.
His lawyers told MEE that an immigration judge found he poses no danger to the public. They describe his detention as unlawful and say that “ICE has used the same playbook against pro-Palestinian protesters it has detained across the country. Here, it has turned that playbook on a Hasidic religious worker.”
According to a DHS spokesperson, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Ovadia in August.
“The Trump Administration acted well within its statutory and constitutional authority, as it does with any alien who advocates for violence, glorifies and supports terrorists, harasses Jews, and steals property,” a spokesperson told MEE.
'We are calling them out'
Ovadia’s lawyers say DHS is acting unlawfully.
“This is a peaceful protest being dressed up as a crime to punish speech the (Trump) administration doesn't like. Federal judges have called out DHS and ICE again and again for breaking the law. We are calling them out now, and we trust that a judge in this case will too. Justice is coming."
Ovadia is a father and husband. Before being detained, he was the sole financial provider for his family. Community members told MEE that earlier this month they raised money to pay two months of unpaid rent for his family.
In court documents reviewed by MEE dated 1 October, Ovadia says he lost at least 25 pounds while detained and that some of his religious accommodation requests were not granted.
Employees of the facility allegedly told Ovadia, "you're not special”, after he made religious requests, according to the court documents.
Ovadia said he had not received the correct books to pray with during Yom Kippur and was not given a proper place to pray.
Ovadia’s case is just the latest in a string of individuals being targeted by the Trump administration, which has pledged to root out anti-Israel rhetoric among non-citizens.
Protesters, scholars, activists and journalists have been arrested or lost access over free speech crackdowns.
Badr Khan Suri, a scholar at Georgetown University, is a legal US resident married to an American citizen. He was detained by ICE agents in March 2025 by order of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for “spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media" and was released from ICE detention two months later.
Palestinian Activist Leqaa Kordia was arrested outside Columbia University after participating in pro-Palestine protests, spending over a year and three days in ICE detention.
Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was detained by ICE agents over his involvement in Columbia University encampments and remained in detention for over 100 days despite being a Green Card holder and being married to a US citizen.
CNN, MS Now, and Politico were banned from the White House last month after US President Donald Trump criticised their coverage; a federal judge restored their press access days later.
These cases are part of a larger pattern of the Trump administration targeting freedom of speech and freedom of the press, often when it comes to Israel's genocide in Gaza.
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