Even through a glitchy video call from her home in the Philippines, the distress on Maricel Macipay’s face is unmistakable. She speaks quietly, and when she recounts the long hours she spent inside a safe room in Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct. 7 and her recent detention by Israeli immigration authorities, tears well in her eyes. “I felt like I was back on Oct. 7,” she says.
Last month, Macipay, a Filipina caregiver who survived the Hamas-led massacre at Be’eri, was detained by inspectors from Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority after her residency visa had expired several months earlier. A review of her case found that she had contacted a lawyer to arrange an extension before the visa expired, but the application was delayed through no fault of her own. When she was deported, her case was still being handled by the Interior Ministry.
At a hearing, Macipay tried to explain the unusual circumstances: an application that had fallen through the cracks, a family willing to employ her and the trauma she has struggled with since Oct. 7. The detention tribunal nevertheless ordered that she remain in custody, and she was later deported. For Macipay, leaving Israel meant more than losing the job that allowed her to support her family in the Philippines. It also separated her from the treatment she needs and from a support network that understands what she endured.
“For someone dealing with the effects of severe trauma, continuity, safe relationships, a sense of belonging and a support system that knows the person and understands what they went through are all significant,” said Shavit Vered Bar, a social worker with Physicians for Human Rights Israel who has accompanied Macipay in recent months. “In my conversations with her since the deportation, I can hear her emotional distress getting worse.”
Consumed by trauma
Macipay arrived in Israel in 2021 and began working in Kibbutz Be’eri almost immediately. She formed close bonds with the community, the other Filipina caregivers there and especially Baruch Meir, whom she affectionately called “Dad” and cared for in his home. Meir died in August 2023, but Macipay, who had become deeply loved by his family, continued living in his home while searching for a new employer and filling in for other caregivers.
The weekend of Oct. 7 was supposed to be her last in Be’eri. Meir’s daughter, Michal, had come to clear out her father’s home. “It was also the kibbutz anniversary celebration and the final day the swimming pool was open for the summer season,” she recalled. When Hamas terrorists stormed Be’eri that morning, Michal and Macipay took shelter in the home’s safe room with another relative and Macipay’s dog, Lucy. “We didn’t understand anything. We were scared, terrified,” Michal said. They remained there for nearly a day before being rescued by the Kalmanzon team.
Macipay was evacuated with other members of the kibbutz community to a hotel near the Dead Sea, where she began caring for 97-year-old Aviva Sela, replacing Sela’s beloved Filipina caregiver, Gracie Cabrera, who was murdered on Oct. 7. After some time, however, Macipay realized that the trauma had overwhelmed her. “How can I take care of other people if I can’t even sleep myself?” she recalled asking in despair. She took several months off to focus on her recovery and later began looking for another family to work for.
Maricel and her dog Lucy hiding in a safe room in Be’eri on Oct. 7
At the same time, she approached a lawyer to file an application to extend her visa. The request was not advanced for months. In an affidavit submitted later, the lawyer confirmed that Macipay had contacted him in time and said the delay in filing the application had been on his end because of the war.
‘I cried for nine days’
One morning in August, Macipay was arrested while walking Lucy. Later that day, she had been due to travel with Michal to Be’eri for a memorial marking the anniversary of Baruch’s death. During her detention, Macipay said she would go into the bathroom to cry so she would not wake the woman sharing her cell. “I cried for nine days,” she said. “Every night, I had nightmares about the people I knew in Be’eri.”
Her explanations did not change the authorities’ decision, nor did an appeal filed by attorney Salwa Masarwa Kanaan, who has represented her since her arrest. The appeal noted that Macipay is officially recognized in Israel as a victim of hostile acts and continues to receive a monthly allowance.
Michal, who remains in contact with Macipay and is trying to help her return, said: “The State of Israel cannot tell Maricel, ‘Get out of my life,’ after everything she went through. She needs her treatment, just as I have needed mine ever since that day.”
The Population and Immigration Authority said in response: “To date, no application has been submitted to the Population and Immigration Authority on the applicant’s behalf for status under the procedure for victims of hostile acts. If a properly filed application is submitted, it will be reviewed in accordance with the applicable criteria and procedures.”