The vast majority of them crossed illegally into Israel between 2006 and 2014.
The movement against the deportations has drawn a vocal minority, including Israelis who have compared what the Africans are facing to the plight of the Jews during the Holocaust.
The deportation plan calls for the removal of single male African asylum seekers who have illegally crossed into Israel from Egypt's Sinai desert. They have a choice: take $3,500 and a plane ticket and leave voluntarily, or face jail and forced deportation.
The policy was supposed to take effect Sunday, but Israel's High Court froze the plan until April 9 after asylum seekers filed a petition, questioning its legality.
Much of the controversy surrounds the plan to deport the asylum seekers to Rwanda and Uganda.
