Filipino migrant advocates from the Tanggol Migrante Campaign denounced the inhumane conditions in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers and the lack of response from the Philippine government during a virtual press conference held on Wednesday, Feb. 5.
The conference came in the wake of recent ICE raids targeting Filipinos, including the detention of multiple caregivers in the Chicago area. Advocates underscored the urgency of addressing these violations and called on the Philippine Consulate to take decisive action in protecting overseas nationals.
Nerissa Allegretti, President of the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) USA reported that ICE raids have been sweeping through Chicago, which she described as “ground zero” for mass deportations under Trump’s immigration policies. The said ICE raid on January 24 at a suburban care home included eight Filipino caregivers, six of whom were detained and deported without a judicial warrant within a 24-hour turnaround while two of them were able to show proper documentation.
“It was very quick. It was truly what President Trump wanted—expedited. There was no warrant given,” Allegretti said, emphasizing that caregivers and other migrant workers remain at the highest risk. “Many of them are only trying to pursue livelihood for themselves and their families, and are already taking up backbreaking work to do so.”
Allegretti also talked about two recently arrested Filipino women who remain unaccounted for as advocates struggle to determine their whereabouts. A health worker affiliated with Tanggol Migrante reported the incident, which happened in Albany Park on February 3, noting that bystanders were too afraid to intervene. Witnesses overheard four agents asking the women if they were U.S. citizens before taking them away in a “dark van with Homeland Security markings”. Efforts are underway to identify their names and locate their detention center.
PH Government’s Response Under Fire
The press conference took place a day after Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega claimed that no undocumented Filipinos had been arrested under the Trump administration. This assertion was strongly refuted by the advocates and community organizers, who cited numerous cases of detentions and deportations.
“I am painfully frustrated when I saw that article that said there are no Filipino immigrants during Trump’s crackdown. It’s not true, it is happening in Chicago,” Allegretti said.
Kort M. Lee, an attorney with the Mission to End Modern Day Slavery (MEMS) Legal Network, condemned the Philippine government’s inaction. “In instances where Filipinos have sought out support from the Philippine Consulates for Assistance to Nationals (ATN) funds, they’ve been ignored without response or given false promises. I would go as far as to call it reckless behavior.”
Heightened Fear
Filipino communities in the U.S. are experiencing heightened anxiety in the wake of aggressive immigration enforcement.
“At first, many were not so worried, but now we are really seeing people more anxious and afraid because Trump is actually implementing what he said he would do,” said Angela Albay of Anakbayan Inland Empire. “Filipinos are not showing up to work because they are afraid of threats of raids. Youth are also afraid to go to school in case ICE shows up.”
Atty. Lee also highlighted the additional vulnerability of queer and transgender Filipinos. “There are queer and trans Filipinos in the Northeast experiencing similar things—paranoia, not going out in public. All federal facilities are expected to house people according to assigned sex at birth, leading to transwomen—Filipinas—facing an additional layer of fear due to the mistreatment they would likely face.”
Ligaya Jensen, a Filipina migrant detained by ICE for over six years at the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona, described the persistent climate of fear faced by detainees and revealed through a phone call with members of the network that there is a climate of anxiety that detainees face under the Trump administration.
Speaking via phone, she stated, “Every single day people are scared that their name will be called. We need to have some kind of empathy for our experiences, and know we are human beings too.”
Albay criticized the Philippine Consulate’s failure to support detained Filipinos.
“We want the consulates to be active in reaching out to Filipinos in detention and respond to Filipino nationals in distress,” she said. “People are being held in torturous conditions. That’s why we demand that Ligaya be released immediately. We demand a full pardon to stop her deportation.”
The recent deportations bring the total number of Filipinos deported under Trump’s administration to over 30 within his first two weeks in office. Advocates are urging both the U.S. and Philippine governments to take immediate action to protect the rights and dignity of Filipino migrants and as raids continue and deportations rise, community organizers vow to persist in their fight for justice and humane treatment.
