By Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos
Malacañang said yesterday it will provide assistance to the almost 10,000 Filipinos who may face deportation as a result of United States President Donald Trump’s decision to revoke the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
On Tuesday, Trump’s attorney general Jeff Sessions announced that the DACA program “is being rescinded,” sparking public outrage.
Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella assured that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is already communicating with the members of the Filipino community in the US.
“The Department of Foreign Affairs, through our embassy and consular officials and staff, is closely coordinating with the members of the Filipino community in the United States,” Abella said during the Palace press briefing Thursday morning.
“We will provide assistance through the use of the Assistance to Nationals Fund and the Legal Assistance Fund to the Filipinos who may end up getting deported as a result of Washington’s decision,” he added.
The DACA is an amnesty by former US President Barack Obama which meant to protect from deportation 800,000 people brought to the US illegally as minors.
However, Sessions said that with DACA denied jobs to hundreds of thousands of Americans by allowing “those same illegal aliens to take those jobs.”
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano also earlier assured that the DFA will assist the Filipinos who may end up getting deported.
“While we hope for the best in the form of a legislative solution, those affected should likewise prepare for the worst,” Cayetano said.
“In any event, we are ready to welcome and assist our kababayans (countrymen) in whatever way we can if they are returned to the Philippines,” Cayetano added.