24 Pinoys allegedly involved in criminal activities deported from US —Amb. Romualdez

More than 20 Filipinos in the United States who were allegedly linked to illegal activities were flown out of the country as part of US President Donald Trump’s mass deportation promise, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said Sunday.

Romualdez said that the Filipinos who were deported from the US were involved in criminal activities, but were not very serious ones.

“Marami na rin, well hindi naman marami, pero ang bilang namin something like 24 na. They have already been deported dahil they were, meron silang, hindi naman very serious crimes, pero they were involved in some criminal activity. They were already deported, something like 24,” the ambassador said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.

(We’ve monitored around 24 Filipinos who have already been deported from the US because they were involved in some criminal activities, but these were not very serious crimes. They were already deported, something like 24.)

Romualdez earlier said that the US government will prioritize the deportation of those who have criminal records, as well as the 1.3 million immigrants who were already processed.

He had also 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 once Trump fulfills his mass deportation plan.

According to the ambassador, many Filipinos have decided that they will return to the Philippines because they don’t have a legal status in the US yet. However, he said Filipinos legally working in the US may have a chance to get theirs.

“‘Yan ang malaking pag-asa, ‘yung mga talagang nandito na at saka nagtatrabaho naman sila at nagbabayad naman sila ng buwis. Ayan, mukhang malaki ang tiyansa nila na makukuha nila ‘yung legal status, lalo na 'pag ini-sponsoran na sila ng kanilang mga employers,” he explained.

(There is big hope that those who are actually here and work and pay taxes have high chances of getting legal status, especially if their employers will sponsor them.)

The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said in November last year that it would assist over 300,000 undocumented Filipinos in the US who could possibly be deported.

Trump, who was sworn in as the 47th president of the US on Monday (early Tuesday, Philippines time), has so far designated illegal immigration a national emergency and tasked the US military with aiding broader security.

READ: Trump launches sweeping border crackdown, mass deportation push

—KG, GMA Integrated News