![DOLE ready to aid Filipinos hit by stricter US immigration rules](https://globalnation.inquirer.net/files/2025/01/DOLE-ready-to-aid-Filipinos-hit-by-stricter-US-immigration-rules.jpg)
People stand in line for their appointments at the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Miramar, Florida, on January 27, 2025 to hopefully one day be approved to stay legally in the US. Agence France-Presse
MANILA, Philippines — Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma said Wednesday that the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is ready to assist Filipinos affected by the United States government’s stricter immigration policies.
While the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) are primarily responsible for the welfare of affected Filipinos, Laguesma noted that DOLE is also prepared to provide support.
“Based on our president’s directive, the Department of Labor and Employment [DOLE] will assist and support in helping those who may be deported or return here,” he said on the sidelines of Jobstreet and DOLE’s Career Con 2025 in Pasay City.
READ: 24 Filipinos in US deported for crimes
He gave this assurance in response to newly inaugurated US President Donald Trump’s declaration of illegal immigration as a national emergency.
Since Trump’s announcement, Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez said 24 Filipinos were already deported due to alleged involvement in illegal activities.
“We have monitored around 24 Filipinos who have been deported from the United States due to their involvement in certain criminal activities, although these were not classified as very serious offenses,” Romualdez said in an interview with dzBB last January 26.
READ: Trump 2.0 starts with big immigration crackdown
Meanwhile, during the Saturday News Forum last January 25, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo Jose De Vega advised overstaying Filipinos in the US to “keep a low profile” and legalize their stay.