Yehonatan Ovadia, 35, originally came to the US on a temporary religious worker visa from Israel in 2022. He is currently being held at Metropolitan Detention Center in New York City and faces deportation to Israel for his pro-Palestinian views. Ovadia's lawyers claim that when his congregation applied to renew his worker classification, USCIS initially approved it through 2028 and then denied the extension "as a matter of discretion".
Key points
Yehonatan Ovadia, 35, originally came to the US on a temporary religious worker visa from…: Yehonatan Ovadia, 35, originally came to the US on a temporary religious worker visa from Israel in 2022.
He is currently being held at Metropolitan Detention Center in New York City and faces de…: He is currently being held at Metropolitan Detention Center in New York City and faces deportation to Israel for his pro-Palestinian views.
Ovadia's lawyers claim that when his congregation applied to renew his worker classificat…: Ovadia's lawyers claim that when his congregation applied to renew his worker classification, USCIS initially approved it through 2028 and then denied the extension "as a matter of discretion".
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Pro-Palestinian Hasidic religious worker accused of hate crimes faces deportation to Israel
20 October 2026 23:10 BST
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".
Read more: Pro-Palestinian Hasidic religious worker accused of hate crimes faces deportation to Israel
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