MANILA, Philippines – Ang pangamba kaugnay sa mass deportation sa ilalim ng administrasyon ni Trump ay “a little bit overblown”, ayon sa isang Filipino-American immigration lawyer.
Sa panayam ng ANC, sinabi ni Atty. Jath Shao na ang undocumented migrants ay “very tiny problem that’s been magnified too much in political rhetoric.”
Aniya, sa nakalipas na 24 na taon, nakapagpa-deport ang US ng nasa 9.6 milyong katao, at nasa 25,000 lamang dito ang mga Filipino.
Sinabi ni Shao na ang mga Filipino sa US ay karaniwang sumusunod sa batas.
“We’re not really part of this problem.”
Matatagalan din umano ang mass deportation na pangako ni President-elect Donald Trump sa kanyang kampanya, na posibleng abutin pa ng ilang taon at may epekto sa ekonomiya ng US.
“Realistically, it’s not going to happen in anyone’s lifetime,” ani Shao.
“Even if you are undocumented, you do have the right to fight it, you have the right to file a defense,” pagpapatuloy niya.
“It’s a very small problem. I think as long as you do everything right, it’s a very small problem.”
Matatandaan na inabisuhan na ni Philippine Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez ang undocumented Filipinos na illegal na naninirahan sa US, na nasa 250,000 hanggang 300,000 umano ang bilang, ay umuwi na upang maiwasan na maipadeport o ma-blacklist.
“Some of them have already filed and so therefore they are here in limbo, meaning to say they are waiting for their papers to pass through,” sinabi ni Romualdez.
“My advice to many of our fellowmen who are actually still here but cannot get any kind of status, my advice is for them not to wait to be deported.”
Bagamat malabo ang mass deportations, hindi naman kinokontra ni Shao ang pahayag ni Romualdez. RNT/JGC
