DFA denies reports of Filipino deportations under Trump

The Department of Foreign Affairs clarified on Friday that no Filipinos have been arrested and slated for deportation by the United States’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Eduardo De Vega noted that while various reports claim that Filipinos have been deported, these accounts remain unverified.

“Our Embassy and Consulates report no Filipinos have been arrested for deportation so far by the ICE under the Trump administration,” De Vega told DAILY TRIBUNE in a text message.

“There are all sorts of reports of Filipinos who have supposedly been deported, but these are not verified,” he added.

De Vega also responded to Migrante International's allegations that 10 Filipinos were deported from Chicago, citing information from the Philippine Consulate General in Chicago.

Philippine Consul General in Chicago Melanie Risa Diano clarified in a text message to De Vega that the Consulate had not received any confirmation of Filipino arrests.

“We called ICE Chicago, and they have not arrested any Filipinos," Diano said.

"To date, we have yet to receive a notification from U.S. authorities about any Filipinos arrested or detained in recent ICE operations in the US Midwest," she added.

Diano said that Filipino restaurant owners had expressed concern due to Facebook posts from Migrante, but confirmed that no arrests had been reported in her jurisdiction.

“So far, we have not received any reports of Filipinos being arrested,” she said.

On Thursday, the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) US claimed that at least eight healthcare workers in Chicago were recently arrested by ICE.

NAFCON President Nerissa Allegretti said six of those who were detained and deported without a judicial warrant within a 24-hour turnaround.

Allegretti claimed that Chicago became “ground zero” for the mass deportation.

One of Trump's campaign promises was to deport an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US, with a goal of expelling around 1 million undocumented immigrants per year.

Last month, Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez announced the deportation of at least 24 Filipinos from the US.

Romualdez, however, clarified that those who have been deported were arrested before Trump returned to the White House.

He also noted that those who have been deported have criminal records but stressed that “these were not classified as very serious offenses.”

According to the DFA, there is an estimated 370,000 undocumented Filipino immigrants in the US.