DFA: No confirmed U.S. deportations of Pinoys

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

DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Eduardo De Vega said reports claiming that Filipinos had been deported remain unverified.

He said his statement reflects actual reports received by the DFA from Philippine embassies and consulates in the United States.

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

De Vega refuted Migrante’s allegations that 10 Filipinos were deported from Chicago based on purported 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 Filipinos being arrested.

“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 U.S. Midwest.”

Diano said Filipino restaurant owners had expressed concern due to Facebook posts from Migrante.

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 detained were deported without a judicial warrant within 24 hours. Allegretti claimed that Chicago had become “ground zero” for mass deportations.

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 were deported had been arrested before Trump returned to the White House.

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

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