Foreign Affairs Chief Perfecto Yasay Jr. NESTOR CORRALES/INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
At least 300,000 Filipinos in the United States may be affected by the Trump administration’s new immigration policy, Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. said on Tuesday.
President Duterte could address the issue with US President Donald Trump at a possible later date, Yasay said.
But in an interview on GMA news channel’s “News to Go,” Yasay stressed that President Trump’s immigration policy was a domestic matter for the US government and that Manila would not interfere.
“We are only concerned with the implementation of this as it would affect Filipinos,” he said. “We would like to make sure that if it is implemented, I understand it might affect at least 300,000 or so Filipinos in the US, we are already prepared to assist these Filipinos as far as their needs are concerned, particularly in legal assistance, defending claims to remain in the US and not be subject to deportation.”
“We want to make sure the rights of Filipinos [who] could be subject to deportation would have the support of the Philippine government to the fullest,” he added.
There was a slight tension in US-Philippines relations in the final days of the Obama administration, which had been critical of alleged rights abuses under President Duterte’s war on drugs. But the Filipino leader later toned down his criticisms, in deference to Trump, whom he said praised his efforts.
“President Duterte has also said that we would be working even more thoroughly and vigorously toward and building from this close relationship,” he pointed out.