Updated:2025-02-01 09:47 Views:183
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Baltimore Field Officer director Matt Elliston listens during a briefing, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, in Silver Spring, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
LOS ANGELES – More undocumented Filipinos are facing deportation as the Trump administration ramps up its efforts to arrest immigrants staying in the US illegally.
The Philippine Embassy has reported that 16 more Filipinos have been processed for deportation – and this number is expected to rise as Trump’s immigration crackdown intensifies, according to immigration attorney Arnedo Valera.
Valera, executive director of the Washington DC-based Global Migrant Heritage Foundation, is providing pro bono legal services to three Filipinos under deportation proceedings.
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He told Inquirer.net USA that his clients have sought assistance from the Philippine Embassy.
“They are seeking transportation expenses for their return to the Philippines instead of waiting for US federal funds,” Valera said.
He said one of his clients is a lawful permanent resident, or green card holder, with criminal convictions.
ADVERTISEMENT“He has decided to fight his case while in detention. After weighing all options, he made this difficult decision despite the significant legal challenges involved,” Valera said.
In an interview with Teleradyo Serbisyo, Ambassador Romualdez said 80 more undocumented Filipinos “have been processed for deportation.” But the Embassy later clarified that as of Jan. 16, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has 16 Filipino nationals in their custody.
“Out of the 16, 15 individuals have their deportation orders and are awaiting removal, while one individual has a pending case,” the Embassy reported.
ADVERTISEMENT“These cases were processed before the Trump administration.”
The Embassy also confirmed that the 24 Filipinos who have been deported were detained and processed for deportation under the Biden administration.
“Since the start of the Trump administration, we have not received reports of Filipinos arrested or detained by ICE,” the Embassy said. “However, three of the sixteen individuals in ICE custody, which were processed before the Trump administration, were scheduled for deportation between Jan. 21 and 23, 2025.”
Valera said he has been providing pro bono legal services to those three Filipinos, who were placed under expedited removal right after Trump took office.
Earlier this week, Ambassador Romualdez said the 24 deported Filipinos had been arrested and processed for deportation under the Biden administration.
“Bago pa naupo si President Trump, na process na yan (They had been processed for deportation even before President Trump took office),” Romualdez told Teleradyo Serbisyo.
Valera said that while these 24 Filipinos were arrested and processed for deportation under the past administration, “their deportation must be understood within the context of President Trump’s very strict enforcement policy of expedited removal.”
The Trump administration has broadened the scope of expedited deportations, issuing an executive order to expand the application of expedited removal – which allows authorities to deport undocumented immigrants through a streamlined process that bypasses the immigration court system.
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The assessment found that 90 percent of principal salmon rivers in England were now classed as “at risk” or “probably at risk,” meaning numbers were below minimum levels to support sustainable populations.
Valera said those identified for expedited removal, who do not request asylum or fail to establish they may have a legitimate asylum case, can be deported without an opportunity to see an immigration judge.
Before this change, immigration authorities were only allowed to use expedited removal on those detained within 100 miles of an international border and who had been in the US for less than two weeks.
Now, these expedited deportations will apply to undocumented immigrants anywhere in the US who can’t prove they have been in the country for more than two years.
The president has also directed immigration officials to expand immigration detention facilities and allowed local law enforcement authorities to arrest and detain undocumented immigrants.
Trump has also rescinded Biden administration guidelines barring deportation officers from making arrests at “sensitive locations,” including schools and churches.
twin spin slotIn an interview with dzBB on Sunday, Romualdez announced that 24 undocumented Filipinos have been deported “due to their involvement in certain criminal activities, although these were not classified as very serious offenses.”
Valera said he received information that two of the 24 deported Filipinos had been charged with traffic violations.
In a statement sent to Inquirer.net USA, the Philippine Embassy said their office and all the Philippine consulates in the US “stand ready to assist all Filipinos in the US regardless of their immigration status to ensure that their rights are respected.”
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