By CESAR ANTONIO NUCUM JR.

SAN FRANCISCO – Filipinos have been specifically targeted  for deportations which rose sharply since US President Donald Trump ordered an immigration crackdown, according to a recent investigation by the Philippines’ Department of Migrant Workers (DMW).

The investigation also found that cruise ship workers who were recently deported by ICE were “not randomly selected.”

Some of those detained, their loved ones, and advocates from Tanggol Migrante Movement (“Defend Migrants” in Filipino) spoke about the most recent attacks against Filipino migrants, particularly court-ordered deportations and “voluntary” departures.  

In Washington D.C., meanwhile, the Philippine Embassy reported it conducted separate consular visits to two  Filipino nationals detained at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities in Kentucky and Georgia.

The consular visits enabled Embassy representatives to ascertain the condition of the detained nationals, extend appropriate assistance, and reaffirm the Embassy’s commitment to protecting their rights and welfare in accordance with the law, the embassy stated. 

“These visits are coordinated closely with U.S. authorities to ensure that the needs and welfare of Filipinos in detention remain duly addressed,” it added.

The Embassy underscored its steadfast commitment to the protection of the rights and well-being of all Filipinos under its jurisdiction, while fully respecting the laws, regulations, and legal processes of the United States.

One of those who detailed alleged illegal actions of ICE and the inhumane conditions in the detention facilities was Ligaya Jensen, a Filipina mother and legal permanent resident of the U.S. who was deported on June 30, 2025 after being held in ICE detention for six years.

“I had multiple fungal infections spread through my whole arms. I had to wait two weeks to see a medical provider,” said Jensen on her time in the Eloy ICE Detention Center in Arizona which she described as unsanitary and of toxic conditions.

 “With medical, they are only quick to issue pain medication. They don’t prevent it from happening. That’s the reason why they make as much profit as possible,” she recounted.

Ligaya added that “the detainees have to cover medical prescriptions for any conditions they develop in ICE detention:”

Another detainee, Filipino father with approved green card status Zenar Dela Cruz, was deported to the Philippines on May 16, 2025, after enduring three years in Aurora ICE Detention in Colorado.

“While I was still in the U.S., an Assistance to Nationals Officer at the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco assured me that I would receive assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development,” said Dela Cruz. “Yet today, I am still waiting. No aid has come. Each day without it is another day my family and I sink deeper into hardship.”

Dela Cruz was forcibly separated from his wife and their three children in San Diego, California. Dela Cruz detailed his struggle in building a new life in the Philippines, a country he is no longer familiar with.  

Flavia “Bebie” Cahoon, a Filipina grandmother who lef behind her family of U.S. citizens, chose to “voluntarily” depart to the Philippines on August 5, 2025, out of fear of being arrested at her next ICE check-in. Cahoon has pre-existing health conditions that need immediate medical attention, which she no longer has access to in the Philippines because she lives outside Manila.

“Where is the support? Where is the Philippine government when its people need them most?” asked Jane Calloway, Cahoon’s daughter. “It is time for the Philippine government to demand more and safeguard the rights and dignity of its citizens.”  

The Tanggol Migrante Movement demands that the Philippine government provide assistance not just to the Filipinos caught in the predatory US detention system but also to those Filipinos who have fallen victim to the heartless deportation machine.

“Separated from their loved ones and surviving in a country now-unfamiliar to them, our organizations can only do so much without the necessary funds to comprehensively support our community members,” the group said.” We demand a comprehensive reintegration plan with housing, healthcare and livelihood. We need to hold the Philippine government accountable to release adequate assistance to nationals (ATN) funds and exert its diplomatic intervention toward getting the US government to cease their violent actions toward our people,” stressed Jom Dolor of Migrante USA. 

“Ultimately, the Philippine government must address the longstanding issues of poverty, landlessness, and joblessness so that people don’t have to leave the country in the first place,” Dolor added.