MANILA, Philippines — The families of undocumented Filipinos who are now in the United States expressed their fears for the well-being of their relatives as US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown puts pending residency papers at risk and raises the specter of imminent deportation for those staying illegally in America.

Filipino American civic leader Genevieve Jopanda reported that migrant communities across the US are worried that Mr Trump’s tougher immigration policy could potentially lead to unjust treatment of migrants, regardless of their status.

“We believe that no one is safe,” Jopanda enthused. The civic leader previously served as national co-chair for the Filipino Americans for Harris-Walz group that backed the Democratic ticket in the 2024 US presidential election.

“There’s this misconception that if you’re a model minority, that if you work hard, pay taxes, you’re not a violent person, that you’re not going to be targeted. But there’s no screening mechanism to be able to say whether or not you are a threat to the community,” she added.

The fear is all too real for most undocumented Filipinos, one of whom asserted that he was disappointed over how President Trump is going after all undocumented migrants instead of only the ones who have criminal records.

Bernard (not his real name) is a Filipino immigrant whose status in the US remains in limbo. He used to hold a tourist visa until a relative, who was a naturalized US citizen, filed a petition to get her a permanent resident visa or green card. He completed her paperwork in April 2024 but has not been given a visa interview slot to date.

Meanwhile, Joseph Lariosa, a journalist from Manila who has been legalized as a US citizen decades ago, gave his own view of the situation and even gave a suggestion to address the adversity.

"As one who missed the deadline for filing for the 1986 Immigration Reform Act that extended amnesty to undocumented immigrants for working in US without work authorization, as U.S. citizen I am proposing to the U.S. Congress to pass another amnesty program that will legalize the stay in the US of undocumented immigrants who can show to the U.S. government that they are law-abiding and they had paid taxes to the US Internal Revenue Service as late as January 20, 2025 when President Trump was inaugurated 47th President," he told this writer.

Asked why, Lariosa pointed out that "in 2022 alone, undocumented immigrants called noncitizens under the Biden administration paid US$96.7 billion in federal, state and local taxes, which most of the amount was paid to the federal government while the remaining US$37.3 billion was paid to the state and local governments."

"And undocumented immigrants are often barred from receiving meaningful tax credits and sometimes do not claim refunds they are owed due to lack awareness, concern about their immigration status or insufficient access to tax preparation assistance," he added.

Thus, Lariosaa reminded that if President Trump were to deport these millions of lawfully employed, the US government will be deprived of these billions of dollars in tax payment and law-abiding citizens.

Since his return to the White House on Jan 20, Trump has signed a slew of immigration-related executive orders to toughen US border policy, tighten visa-vetting procedures and clamp down on illegal immigrants.
He also ordered the suspension of refugee admissions and sought to end birthright citizenship, though the courts have temporarily blocked the move to end automatic US citizenship for children born to unauthorized immigrants on US soil.

There were around 350,000 undocumented immigrants from the Philippines in the US as of 2022, the fifth-highest number after Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, data from the US Department of Homeland Security showed. According to the US Census Bureau, there were 4.1 million Filipino Americans as of 2022.