The Department of Migrant Workers and the Philippine embassy in Washington are ramping up support for an estimated 370,000 undocumented Filipino immigrants (commonly known as TNTs) who may face mass deportation from the United States as President-elect Donald Trump prepares for his White House return.
“The DMW is prepared to assist our OFWs, whether they are documented or undocumented OFWs. Under the directives of our President, a whole-of-government team is here to provide support to possible deportees,” Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said.
“The Philippine Embassy has scheduled a planning session with the consulates in the first week of December to discuss how we can assist Filipinos,” added Philippine Ambassador to the US Babe Romualdez.
The 78-year-old Trump, whose campaign promises included implementing the “largest deportation program in American history,” earlier announced his border czar choice – Tom Homan.
Trump on social media said Homan, a former acting director of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, would be responsible for “all deportation of illegal aliens back to their country of origin.”
Border critic and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem will reportedly be Trump’s next homeland security secretary.
Romualdez on Thursday said the Philippine embassy is waiting for the details of the mass deportation policy.
“As soon as details are available, it will be passed on to our immigration lawyers. They will go through it and assess who are qualified to take the legal path and stay in the US. But if there is no legal pathway for you to stay, it is better to depart because if you are deported, you can never come back. Once you are deported, you are blacklisted,” Romualdez said.
Cacadac said in collaboration with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and the Department of Foreign Affairs, financial, medical, and legal assistance will be given to affected Filipinos.
He said support mechanisms will facilitate “wide-ranging reintegration support to the possible deportees.”
“We will continuously coordinate with the DFA and with the US authorities on monitoring the developments on the ground. Rest assured that DMW, along with its partner agencies, is ready to provide support and assistance to our OFWs,” Cacdac said.
During Trump’s campaign, he repeatedly railed against undocumented immigrants, employing violent rhetoric about those who “poison the blood” of the United States.
In rally speeches, he wildly exaggerated local tensions and misled his audiences about immigration statistics and policy.
However, violent crime, which spiked under Trump, has fallen in every year of President Joe Biden’s administration.
The number of US border patrol encounters with migrants crossing over from Mexico illegally is now about the same as in 2020, the last year of Trump’s presidency, after peaking at a record 250,000 for the month of December 2023.
Trump vowed to tackle migrant gangs using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 – which allows the federal government to round up and deport foreigners belonging to enemy countries – as part of a mass deportation drive he christened “Operation Aurora.”
Aurora was the scene of a viral video showing armed Latinos rampaging through an apartment block that spurred sweeping, false narratives about the town being terrorized by Latin American migrants.
Trump has similarly promoted the fictitious story that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating residents’ pets. With AFP
