TORONTO – Families of unjustly detained Filipinos in U.S. detention centers are calling out the Philippine government for its lack of genuine support amid ongoing medical neglect, mounting legal fees, and denied access to promised assistance.

In a press conference held yesterday, November 19, Tanggol Migrante Movement, an alliance of organizations across the U.S. dedicated to defending migrant rights called the government’s lack of genuine support “bureaucrat capitalism at work.” 

According to the movement, Filipino families who have been affected by immigration policies have relentlessly contacted the Philippine Consulate and Embassy only to be met with red tape and slow bureaucracy. 

The group said that the government continues to decide who is ‘worthy’ of help rather than guaranteeing support as a basic right. One of the Filipino detainees, Sonny Lasquite, was refused help just because the family has already set up a GoFundMe. 

Lasquite, a lawful, permanent resident since 2002, and is the sole breadwinner for his family, especially his elderly mother, is a banquet server in Las Vegas. The Lasquite family has struggled navigating exorbitant legal fees and lack of legal representation, turning into crowd-funding initiatives. Lasquite has been separated from his friends and family, and is currently detained at Stewart Detention Center in Georgia. 

According to Sonny’s brother Jhun, they reached out to the Philippine embassy and tried applying for Assistance to Nationals (ATN). 

“At first, they told us our application cannot be approved because we managed to pool a certain amount of money. We were able to raise a little bit more than $20,000 for my brother. When they [government officials] saw our GoFundMe post, they rejected our application,” Jhun said in Filipino.

Jhun said the only aid Sonny has received so far from the government is the $100-$300 they give him so he can call his family and buy food while in detention. 

What was promised?

June Colcol of Tanggol Migrante said that in September, members of Tanggol Migrante, BAYAN USA and Malaya USA raised several concerns with the current secretary of the Department of Migrant Workers, Hans Leo Cacdac. The secretary said that the government will provide resources for Filipinos who are repatriated. 

The alliance is also in touch with Ligaya, a Filipino who was formerly detained in Eloy Detention Center in Arizona, and was brought back to the Philippines without any form of identification. “Since July, and, until this day, she still does not have any form of government ID, which is [then] impacting her ability to access sustainable work and have a job in the Philippines,” Colcol said. 

“And so, while there are these claims, right, we are hearing the personal accounts, the lived experiences of Filipinos who are back in the Philippines and not receiving any sort of relief or resource that the government claims to have,” Colcol added.

Lies, lies, and more lies

In a Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) news release dated November 2024, the DMW claimed it is “ready to provide all the necessary assistance and support to Filipinos, including undocumented OFWs in the United States facing potential mass deportations with the shifts in US policies under the administration of President-elect Donald Trump”

The DMW announced that it has prepared support mechanisms, including financial, medical, and legal assistance through the AKSYON and Emergency Repatriation Fund and that these funds will ensure affected Filipinos have immediate access to essential services if they are sent back to the Philippines. The DMW claimed that the support will include job retooling, reskilling, and employment facilitation of affected Filipinos.

However, this is not the case for Filipinos sent home. 

Nerissa Dela Cruz, wife of Zenar Dela Cruz who was deported back to the Philippines earlier this year, shared that their family has not received any kind of help. Zenar has had to fend for himself and look for ways to find a job in the Philippines.

Nerissa said that before Zenar was deported to the Philippines, they were promised reintegration. Since returning home, her husband has been hospitalized twice, and during the most recent stay, he nearly died due to his chronic condition and had to undergo surgery. This resulted in hundreds of thousands of pesos in hospital bills and little to no help from the Philippine government. 

According to Nerissa, she has been “begging” the consulate through email but got no response. Nerissa is now left alone in San Diego with their three kids. 

“We need to keep fighting. I wanna keep fighting not just for my family but to be an example for other families like ours who are separated from their loved ones,” she said. 

ATN is the declared policy of the Philippine government to promote the welfare and protect the rights of all overseas Filipinos. ATN includes but not limited to assistance in facilitating repatriation to the Philippines, assistance in human trafficking cases, monitoring of cases in court, assistance in locating whereabouts of missing Filipino nationals, coordination with non-government organizations and government agencies involving laws and policies affecting labor, human trafficking, anti-discrimination, among others.

Regardless of status

After more than 40 days in detention, Yaa’kub Ira Vijandre was denied ATN due to the government asserting that they only provide assistance to repatriated migrants. 

Vijandre is a recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a policy created in 2012 that gives temporary protection from deportation and work authorization to undocumented migrants who were brought to the United States as children.

Human rights advocate, photojournalist, and well loved community leader, Filipino-Muslim Vijandre was arrested under legally dubious claims by the U.S. government that his social media post disqualifies his receipt of DACA.

May, Vijandre’s family said that in his latest bond hearing, “the judge found that his social media activity, which includes sharing videos of himself teaching martial arts, liking Instagram posts of Quranic verses, and sharing footage of an event that he had attended of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui in Dallas, constitutes proof that he endorses and espouses terrorism. And quote, unquote, is a danger to the community and a flight risk.”

May emphasized that her cousin’s case shows how, regardless of status, even those who have lived in the US for decades can be targeted, revealing the fragility of freedom of speech and expression under current immigration policies.

“If someone who has legal immigration status and has lived in this country for over 20 years, can be at risk of detention and deportation, solely on their constitutionally protected expressive activity. It should serve as a wake up call for all of us in this country, regardless of our status,” May said.

On October 20, May sent another email to apply for the ATN Fund. Two days later, following multiple public statements and news coverage highlighting her cousin’s case, Consular Office Officer-in-Charge Delza Lourdes Bayabao said the application would be processed as soon as possible.

However, on October 25, May received a reply from Consul Von Ryan Pangwi denying the request for assistance.

“They stated that welfare assistance is only extended to detained Filipinos for basic needs when they are deported. And that legal fees and other expenses are not within the funds,” May explained.

May believed this to not be true, noting that other detained Philippine nationals have been able to access funds for legal support, medical care, and more, with some reporting assistance of up to $10,000.

She also described Vijandre’s difficult conditions in detention. He was forced to drink water from a faucet connected to a VersaFill chemical dispenser, received food that was not halal and provided only half the calories he had at his previous detention center, Blue Bonnet, and was initially denied his prayer beads and prayer map. May also reported mistreatment by ICE officers, including an incident where an officer told him to defecate on himself when he asked for the bathroom location.

May said, “The consulate, as a whole, continues to be non-responsive to my family’s urgent calls for financial assistance, and has yet to leverage their diplomatic powers to intervene and fulfill their responsibility to help Yakub and any and all Philippine nationals who face unlawful targeting by this administration.”

According to May, since the case was first brought to their attention, the Philippine consulates in Houston and now in Washington, DC, have not offered swift diplomatic intervention or financial assistance. 

May urged the Philippine Embassy and Consulate to join calls for the Department of Homeland Security to release her cousin, withdraw the unlawful notice of intent to terminate his DACA, and hold authorities accountable for ensuring just treatment and health for him and all detainees in their care.

Above all, she hopes the Philippine Embassy and Consulate will publicly denounce the unlawful detention and mistreatment of her cousin and other Philippine nationals.

May also shared a message from Yaa’kub, “Cousin, my story is not special. It is just one story that is getting a lot of spotlight right now, and all of these stories need to be shared with others. God created us to be inspired by stories, tales, and legends. Word of mouth is what’s needed right now, so continue to share what’s happening in these places.” 

May called on all Filipinos to unite together for all families and communities, and to work together to improve the conditions of Filipinos and migrants in detention. (RVO)