The Philippine Embassy in Washington DC urged illegal Filipino immigrants in the United States to voluntarily leave the country.
Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez made the appeal following the victory of President-elect Donald Trump in the 2025 elections.
"My advice to many of our of our fellowmen who actually are still here but cannot get any kind of status, my advice is for them not to wait to be deported," Romualdez said on Friday, November 8, during a virtual briefing.
"I can see that the administration of President Trump is really going to be very strict with the immigration policy that he intends to put in place because that is a promise he made to the American public, and that is probably the reason why he won," he stressed.
Romualdez said that at least 250,000 to 300,000 undocumented Filipinos face deportation if Trump commits to his promise.
"Some are not considered to be illegal, some already filed, but they are in limbo, meaning to say, they are waiting for their papers to pass through," the ambassador explained.
The envoy pointed out that a deported foreign national can never return to the United States.
"My advice to them is to immediately leave voluntarily because once you are deported you can never come back to the United States," Romualdez said.
"At least if you leave, there is always the opportunity or the chance that you'd be able to file at the right time. Just follow the rules and regulations of the country. That's the only way," he added.
Romualdez assured that illegal Filipino immigrants can seek help through the attaché from the Department of Migrant Workers at the Philippine Embassy in Washington.
