Groups flag lack of PH gov’t aid for Filipinos with immigration woes in US

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a GMA News Online report Tuesday that no Filipino illegal immigrants have so far been arrested since US President Donald Trump took office. On Thursday, the Philippine consulate general in Chicago confirmed the same to Rappler in its jurisdiction, saying that per the consulate’s inquiry with theUS Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) field office in Chicago, “no Filipino national has been detained from its operations in Illinois.”

“To date, this Office has yet to receive a notification from US authorities on Filipinos arrested or detained from ICE operations in the US Midwest,” the consulate general said.

But the Tanggol Migrante Network disputes this, saying that there is still a hostile environment for undocumented Filipino workers, and that the Philippine government “has yet to provide any substantial support” to the cases the network has monitored.

Nerissa Allegretti, president of the decades-old National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (Nafcon), said her organization received a report about eight Filipino caregivers who were arrested by ICE on January 24, days after Trump took office.

She said that two of the eight were released because they were able to provide documentary proof of their legal status.

As of publication, Rappler is still independently confirming the validity of these arrests as the workers were not named. But Allegretti said she was “painfully frustrated” that the DFA said that there had been no arrests.

“It’s not true. It’s happening in Chicago. The caregivers who reported the incident and the health worker who works in the nursing home…. are very credible people,” she said.

Allegretti said her group was trying to find a way to encourage the affected workers to speak up, “because if we keep being silent about this, it will be hard.” The group also challenged the Philippine government to step up and encourage its citizens to speak out.

Philippine ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez earlier advised the hundreds of thousands of undocumented Filipinos in the US to come back to the Philippines instead of wait for deportation. In a Rappler Talk episode aired January 29, he said it was his personal opinion that this was the best option for migrants with no legal path, since it may also afford them a chance to come back to the US as legal immigrants.

“We will definitely do what we can to help every Filipino that comes to the embassy or the consulates,” Romualdez said.

Still, Edmari Gutierrez of the Kabataan Alliance said that this advice to self-deport caused “confusion” and “panic” in the community.

“The Philippine government has yet to provide any substantial or real support for its people, especially those who are most vulnerable. So even as we’ve tried to advocate [for] our fellow Filipinos who are facing deportation and are currently in detention, the embassy and consulate has not done anything beyond the broad statements indicating that they will support without ever taking action,” said Gutierrez.

Tedious aid application

One of the high-profile cases the Tanggol Migrante Network is monitoring is that of Dhenmark Francisco and Jovi Esperanza, caregivers who were detained by ICE and charged with aggravated assault in October, during the Biden administration.

Dhenmark, along with his co-worker Jovi, claim to have acted in self-defense towards a patient who turned violent after the two enforced the no-smoking policy of the health facility where they worked. Jovi self-deported on January 29.

According to immigration lawyer Kort Lee, a legal volunteer for the Dhenmark and Jovi campaign, financial assistance from the Philippine government has yet to reach the workers’ families.

Lee said the application for Assistance to Nationals aid was a months-long process. Though the ATN request had been approved, Lee claimed that the Philippine consulate in New York has made their team deal with “legal barriers” in the form of tedious documentary requirements.

“I would say that they are responsive because there has been pressure via these campaigns, via the people who come together and rally at the consulate and tell them to go do their jobs. It is so important that we continue to hold that pressure to hold our government officials accountable, both here in the US and the Filipino government,” said Lee.

Since the start of the new Trump administration, the main concerns the immigration lawyer has received include fears of being raided at workplaces, and fears of being confronted by ICE on the street and in their homes.

Lee also said that some unscrupulous immigration lawyers have taken advantage of the situation, profiting from migrants’ confusion by putting up scams on social media.

The Tanggol Migrante Network said one of the ways it has been supporting its community with an information campaign about their rights. Philippine government posts in the US have similarly been posting know-your-rights art cards on their social media pages.

Public fears over President Trump’s mass deportation plans have been rampant since he announced these during the campaign period. – Rappler.com