Immigrants detained in US being watched, DFA says

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Saturday maintained that the Philippine Embassy and various consulates in the United States are keeping an eye on the situation of Filipinos affected by the sweeping crackdown of the Trump administration on illegal aliens.

In response to claims by Filipino migrant groups that they are being ignored, DFA spokesperson Angelica Escalona said that the Philippine Embassy in Washington, as well as the Consulates General in various states, “remain actively engaged” in providing assistance to Filipino immigrants detained in Immigration and Enforcement (ICE) facilities.

This, Escalona said, includes “ensur[ing] their wellbeing and treatment according to the law and international standards.”

“We also remain in contact with relevant US authorities to ensure our nationals’ rights are respected, and continue to monitor the situation closely,” she added.

The DFA official said that the department makes public its information, including health conditions, only with consent.

“Medical conditions are based on information shared directly by the detainees or their families, and are raised with authorities as necessary,” Escalona told reporters.

However, Tanggol Migrante Movement USA (Tanggol Migrante), in an email to the Inquirer, expressed doubt whether the embassy and consulates are indeed “proactively monitoring” the situation of Filipinos in detention.

‘Very difficult’

“Officials have said they would not release numbers due to confidentiality but we have also seen on several occasions that they are not actually aware of the whereabouts of their nationals,” it said.

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Tanggol Migrante also noted how it has been “very difficult” to track the location of Filipinos in ICE detention because of the “indiscriminate” targeting and rounding up of migrants on a large scale as well as their sudden transfer from one facility to another without notice.

Based on statistics from the DFA, nearly 70 Filipinos are in ICE custody. Tanggol Migrante Movement, based on its monitoring, noted that it had assisted more than 30 Filipinos in different facilities in the US.

At the moment, Tanggol Migrante is in contact with 11 detained Filipinos. And to keep up with the impact of the harsh enforcement of immigration policies, the group sometimes relies on those held in facilities to get more information on other detained Filipinos.