KARAPATAN, a national alliance of human rights organizations and individuals in the Philippines, condemns the Trump regime’s continuing assault on migrants in the United States, with the latest wave including Lawful Permanent residents or green card holders.
Migrante and Bayan USA recently denounced the arrest and detention of Lewelyn Dixon, 64, a Filipino migrant worker who has been a legal resident in the US for 50 years. Dixon was arrested and detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents upon returning to her home in Seattle, Washington on February 28, 2025 from a two-week visit to the Philippines.
Badgered by Trump into fulfilling arrest and detention quotas, ICE agents have been sweeping communities, barging into homes and arbitrarily seizing people of color. Even employees of the United Nations headquarters in New York City and their families have been reportedly advised by the UN to bring their UN identification cards and copies of the page on their passports containing their US visas at all times because they may be randomly stopped in the streets and interrogated by ICE agents.
Of late, several individuals have been denied entry, detained or deported for having expressed views contrary to those of the Trump regime. Permanent US residents who had joined pro-Palestinian rallies and expressed their views on social media are among those who have been targeted.
ICE agents have reportedly arrested some 33,000 migrants in the first 50 days of the Trump regime. Contrary to Trump’s statements that his government would be targeting the “worst of the worst,” more than half of those arrested have no past criminal records or pending cases, and many of them, like Lewelyn Dixon, are long-time legal residents with no deportation orders. Philippine ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said at least 30 Filipinos were reportedly detained and processed for deportation.
Marcos Jr. and the Department of Foreign Affairs should ensure that Dixon and other detained Filipinos are released and their rights are respected. The Philippine government should provide legal and other forms of assistance, especially for undocumented Filipino migrants who have no means and resources.
KARAPATAN supports Filipino migrants and their organizations in the US in their campaign to uphold and defend the rights of migrants.