Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez said Monday that there is little room for negotiation under U.S. President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policy, as Manila prioritizes ensuring that undocumented Filipinos facing deportation are sent home—not to third countries.
“I think at the end of the day, the laws of the United States must be respected, just like we expect citizens who come to the Philippines to also respect our laws,” Romualdez said in a media briefing. “The bottom line is there is really not much room for discussion, but to simply work in such a way that all Filipinos up for deportation will be returned to the Philippines and not to a third country.”
Romualdez said the Philippine Embassy in Washington has not yet received updated figures from U.S. authorities but estimated that nearly 100,000 Filipinos—many of them in California—could be subject to removal proceedings. He emphasized that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security only informs the Philippine government when coordination is necessary for repatriation.
His comments come amid rising tensions involving Filipino nationals in the U.S., including reports that 18 Filipino seafarers were detained and deported in handcuffs over alleged violations related to child pornography found on their cellphones—a claim that remains unverified and is currently under investigation by the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW).
The seafarers were part of the crew aboard the Carnival Sunshine cruise ship, docked at the Port of Norfolk, Virginia, when they were apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents. One of them, Marcelo Morales, posted on social media that they were “treated like criminals” and “deprived of food and water.” Morales claimed he was initially cleared in May but was rearrested in June without new evidence and taken into custody along with eight other Filipino crew members.
The DMW said it is verifying the incident and coordinating with U.S. authorities to ensure the rights of affected seafarers are protected. Romualdez, meanwhile, urged undocumented Filipinos with potential legal remedies to seek help from Filipino-American legal groups, which have offered assistance in light of the Trump administration’s intensified deportation efforts.
