PHILIPPINE Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez yesterday reiterated his appeal to undocumented Filipinos in the United States to immediately consult immigration lawyers as the Trump administration continues its crackdown against undocumented foreigners.
Romualdez reiterated his appeal as the Trump administration recently moved to revoke the temporary legal status of 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans in the United States effective next month.
“As I have said so many times, Filipinos whose status is neither here or there, meaning they have jobs here, they are paying taxes, but their status is not yet clear, should immediately go see an immigration lawyer as they still have a chance to clear their status here,” Romualdez told radio DZBB.
But he added that those whose chance of legalizing their stay in the US is slim should better leave now, rather than wait to be deported.
“Once they are deported, they really can’t come back to the US,” Romualdez said.
In January, 24 Filipinos in the US who were allegedly linked to illegal activities were deported as part of Trump’s vow of mass deportation for undocumented and overstaying foreigners, and those involved in criminal activities.
Romualdez said the embassy and the six Philippine consulates in the US — Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Honolulu and Guam — are also providing legal assistance to undocumented Filipinos in processing their documents and legalizing their stay.
There are over 4.6 million Filipinos in the US, according to records.
Many Filipinos and Filipino Americans are living in California, Hawaii, New Jersey, Texas, Illinois and Washington, DC.
American authorities have said there are at least 300,000 Filipinos illegally staying in the US, making them the fifth largest group of undocumented immigrants.
