PH consuls to discuss how to help Filipinos illegally staying in US — Amb. Romualdez

The Philippine consuls in the United States are set to hold a meeting to find ways to help thousands of Filipinos who are illegally staying there following the victory of President-elect Donald Trump, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said Monday.

Romualdez said that the consuls from Guam, Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco will hold a planning session in December at the Embassy of the Philippines in Washington D.C. to discuss how they can assist illegal Filipino immigrants in the US who may face deportation as part of Trump’s campaign promise.

“Siyempre kukuha rin kami ng direksyon mula sa aming home office at saka sa Department of Migrant Workers, saka sa Malacañang, kung paano natin matutulungan sila, kung anong pwedeng gawin ng embahada natin,” the ambassador said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.

(Of course we will also get directions from our home office, the Department of Migrant Workers, and Malacañang on how we can help them and on what our embassy can do.)

Romualdez earlier advised Filipinos in America without "any kind of status" to voluntarily return to the Philippines or start working on their documents, and no longer wait to be deported should Trump fulfill his mass deportation plan.

The ambassador warned that once Filipinos get deported, there is a big chance that they won’t be able to return to the US.

Due to this, he said many of the Filipinos who are illegally staying in the US are now getting worried.

Data gathered by the GMA Integrated News Research showed that there are 4,640,313 Filipinos in the US as of last year, according to the latest figures by the US Census Bureau.

Further, data from the US Department of Homeland Security stated that Filipinos are the fifth largest unauthorized immigrant population in the US with 350,000 in 2022. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News