Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel “Babe” Romualdez on Monday, April 21, denied reports that Filipinos are being sent back to the Philippines amid United States President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Philippine Ambassador to Washington Babe Romualdez raises a toast to US President Donald Trump and his administration. (Photo from Amb. Romualdez via X post)
“Fake news….Our consuls are on top of the immigration issues,” the envoy said in a message to The Manila Bulletin.
This was in reaction to a video on YouTube channel “Beyond the Route,” wherein Filipinos were allegedly being suddenly deported.
Now with 436,000 views, the video purported that officials are targeting Filipino immigrants because they are considered “low-risk deportations” as they cooperate with deportation orders.
Allegedly, the 10 US cities sending Filipinos back home are Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Dallas, San Diego, Phoenix, Miami, and Washington D.C.
Early this year, Romualdez admitted that some 24 Filipinos have been deported from the US, while 60 to 80 more were up for deportation.
Most of the 24 Filipinos, however, were involved in “some petty crimes,” which led to their deportation orders.
The ambassador added that the US had prioritized the deportation of some 1.3 million immigrants who have already been processed and those with links to gangs and criminal activities.
In response, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) advised illegally staying Filipinos in the US to work on legalizing their statuses, while Romualdez also asked them to return to the Philippines voluntarily to avoid being blacklisted.
Trump has made true his campaign promise of sending illegal immigrants back to their home countries, though there have been reports of legally and long-staying migrants being detained by immigration officials.