15 Filipinos awaiting deportation at start of Trump administration

Trump and his top officials have emphasized the strict implementation of immigration laws through deportations, which the newly installed American president described as first targeting “people that have been as bad as you get.”

In the same statement, the embassy said that 16 Filipino nationals were in the custody of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), of whom 15 had deportation orders and one had a pending case. All 16 cases were processed before Trump returned to the White House.

Of the 15 with deportation orders, three were set to be deported between January 21 and 23, the first three days of the second Trump administration.

The embassy added that 24 Filipinos had been deported by ICE in the last months of the previous Biden administration, between October 1, 2024, and January 18, 2025.

In a pull-aside interview in North Carolina on January 24, Trump told the media that “deportation is going very well.”

“We’re getting the bad, hard criminals out. These are murderers. These are people that have been as bad as you get, as bad as anybody you’ve seen. We’re taking them out first,” Trump said. 

The deportation of individuals who entered and are staying in the United States illegally were among the key promises Trump made during the 2024 presidential campaign. 

The White House, in posts on social media, first boasted the start of deportation flights on January 24 (early January 25 in the Philippines). 

“Just as he promised, President Trump is sending a strong message to the world: those who enter the United States illegally will face serious consequences,” said the White House in different social media posts. The posts were accompanied by a photo of several people chained together, walking toward what appeared to be a US military plane.

Washington has been using military planes to deport migrants back to their countries of origin. 

The US and Colombia figured in a brief diplomatic standoff after the Colombian President Gustavo Petro disallowed two US military planes carrying deportees to land in the country. Trump responded by ordering an “emergency” tariff on Colombian imports, on top of travel ban and visa revocations, as well as visa sanctions on Colombian government officials. 

Hours later, the White House announced the tariffs and sanctions on Colombia would be “held in reserve, and not signed, unless Colombia fails to honor this agreement,” after the Latin American country “agreed to all of President Trump’s terms, including the unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia returned from the United States, including on US military aircraft, without limitation or delay.” 

There are over 4 million individuals living in the United States who are Filipino nationals or of Filipino origin. 

Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez, the Philippines’ top envoy to the US, earlier said there are an estimated 350,000 Filipinos staying in the US illegally. Romualdez, the cousin of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., has repeatedly “advised” Filipinos staying in the US illegally to leave on their own accord and not wait for deportation. 

Romualdez has been envoy to the US since before his cousin took over Malacañang. He was appointed ambassador by former president Rodrigo Duterte during Trump’s first presidency. 

The Philippines and the US have a long, albeit complicated bilateral relationship. The two countries are treaty-allies, and have long enjoyed good ties between its citizens, including the Filipino diaspora in the US. 

Marcos had spoken to Trump in a phone call in November 2024 — their first and only conversation since Trump’s win, thus far. Marcos, speaking to reporters days after that call, said he did not discuss immigration policies with Trump. 

Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo and US State Secretary Marco Rubio have since met via video teleconferencing. During the call, the two “agreed to explore a first meeting between Presidents Marcos and Trump in the near future.”

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. has also met with Trump’s National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. – Rappler.com