Better for undocumented Filipinos in US to leave than be deported – envoy

Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez. | FILE PHOTO: Gabriel P. Lalu/ INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine Ambassador to the United States (US) Jose Manuel “Babe” Romualdez said it would be better for undocumented Filipinos in the US to leave instead of facing deportation.

Romualdez made his remark in light of President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to conduct an unprecedented mass deportation of undocumented foreigners.

Trump was elected president of the US on Tuesday, securing a White House comeback four years after his loss to President Joe Biden.

Trump, who was the 45th US president, also became the 47th when he secured more than 270 electoral votes, winning against US Vice President Kamala Harris.

READ: Undocumented immigrants in US ‘terrified’ as Trump returns 

“If they (Filipinos) have no path to staying [in the US] legally, it’s better to leave instead of being deported; otherwise the chances of being able to come back is almost zero,” Romualdez told INQUIRER.net in a text message on Friday.

The ambassador earlier said that most of the 200,000 undocumented Filipinos in the United States have already filed petitions for permanent residency status.

READ: PH envoy sees Filipino migrants safe from Trump mass deportation plan 

In 2023, a report by the Migration Policy Institute in Washington D.C. showed that the Philippines is the sixth top source of undocumented (unauthorized) immigrants in the US with a population estimated at 309,000 in 2021.

READ: Undocumented Filipinos in US now estimated at 309,000 

The estimated unauthorized immigrant population in the US was 11.2 million in 2021, up from 11.0 million in 2019, with a larger annual growth rate seen since 2015.