NONE of the 28 Filipinos apprehended and deported by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been sent to a third country, the Department of Foreign Affairs told senators on Wednesday, adding that around 69 are currently in ICE custody.
Citing information from ICE, DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Affairs Eduardo de Vega said the 69 Filipinos being processed by ICE were getting legal assistance from the Philippine government.
“There have been deportations, but all of them were to the Philippines. None have been sent to another country,” De Vega said.
De Vega shared the information in response to Sen. Erwin Tulfo’s inquiry about the possibility of repatriating Filipinos facing immigration issues in the US instead of letting them to be sent to third countries like El Salvador.
Tulfo had suggested that the DFA negotiate with ICE or the Department of Homeland Security to keep Filipinos from being sent elsewhere but the Philippines.
De Vega assured Tulfo that the Philippines has an “internal arrangement” with the US government, which alerts Manila when Filipinos in the US face legal proceedings, including those involving potential deportation.
“Every time they arrest a Filipino, not just for deportation but also for criminal cases, they are supposed to inform our government,” De Vega said of the consular notification process with the US.
Activist groups in the US, including Bayan USA Northeast and Migrante Seattle, have been calling on the Philippine government to provide Filipinos in ICE custody with consular and legal assistance.
Migrante Seattle and Migrante sa University of Washington Medical Center in April pressed the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco to lay out concrete steps it is taking to assist Filipinos facing deportation and other immigration issues.
They cited events within the past few months such as increase in the number of Filipino migrants detained by ICE, adding that the detainees they had visited complained about little assistance from the Philippine government.
“Our overseas compatriots, the Philippines’ ‘new heroes’, deserve timely, meaningful, and concrete support from our government,” the groups said.
