Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents stand near a gate at Delaney Hall, a newly converted immigrant detention centre in Elizabeth, New Jersey May 7, 2025. Delaney Hall has the ability to hold over a 1000 people, and the detention facility, privately owned by The GEO Group, holds a contract with the federal government to house people arrested by ICE. Timothy A. Clary, AFP

Article (news)

Harlene Delgado

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1761889039427cropped-Screen Shot 2025-10-31 at 1.35.57 PM.png" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents stand near a gate at Delaney Hall, a newly converted immigrant detention centre in Elizabeth, New Jersey May 7, 2025. Delaney Hall has the ability to hold over a 1000 people, and the detention facility, privately owned by The GEO Group, holds a contract with the federal government to house people arrested by ICE. Timothy A. Clary, AFP</span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — Several Filipino worker groups in the United States denounced the alleged maltreatment of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers against migrants, including Filipinos.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/5/30/ph-embassy-tells-us-don-t-deport-filipinos-to-third-countries-1031">Philippine embassy tells US: Don&#x27;t deport Filipinos to third countries</a></div><p>In a virtual press conference by Tanggol Migrante Movement USA, some Filipino workers based in various parts of the US shared experiences of their fellow Filipinos who were allegedly detained, denied critical medical treatment, and neglected by Philippine government.</p><p>Veronica Velasquez, an acute care physical therapist at LA County Hospital, detailed the ordeal of a detained migrant patient who she said was “seriously harmed” and needed medical care due to ICE federal agents’ “violent and aggressive methods”.</p><p>“He was unnecessarily handcuffed to his hospital bed despite his physical inability to walk and he was also interrogated while in pain,” Velasquez claimed.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/10/23/flush-with-cash-us-immigration-agency-expands-weaponry-and-surveillance-1059">Flush with cash, US immigration agency expands weaponry and surveillance</a></div><p>She criticized hospital leadership’s “mishandling” of ICE presence in medical institutions.</p><p>“These hospital administrators demonstrate compliance and cooperation with ICE agents. As health care workers, we have moral and ethical duty to speak up against these injustices,” she said.</p><p>“We demand ICE outside of hospital, we demand ICE out of our clinics and ICE out of our healthcare system,” Velasquez added.</p><p>Cora Cabellon of the Tanggol Migrante in Washington recounted the story of &quot;Kuya G&quot; who allegedly experienced constant surveillance by an ICE liaison and denied access to communicate with relatives and in-person legal counsel.</p><p>He contracted ulcerative colitis due to “months of neglect” and has undergone two separate surgeries for bone infection, according to Cabellon.</p><p>“This is really a preventable consequence of medical violence due to delayed treatment at the hands of Northwest Detention Center,” she said. </p><p>Cabellon added that they were “appalled by the blatant inaction of the Philippine consulate”.</p><p>“Only after the press conference on October 24 that the Philippine consulate gave Kuya G a call for a welfare check,” she claimed. </p><div><br/></div><div><strong>DENIED CRITICAL CARE</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Dee Balitaan of Anakbayan USA, meanwhile, shared the ongoing bout of “Tita Rebecca”, 71, who is being held in an Indiana detention center and has been transferred more than three times.</p><p>She was allegedly denied access to critical kidney medication for three months and kept without access to in-person visitation, according to the movement.</p><p>“And before she gets send back to the Philippines, we also have been calling on the Philippine government to ensure that she’ll have a comprehensive medical exam before she leaves so that we can make sure she’s fit to fly and go back to the Philippines,” Balitaan said. </p><p>They call on the Philippine consulate to ensure the welfare of the detained Filipinos in the US.</p><p>Jom Dolor, a registered nurse in Washington, accused Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Romualdez of being “relatively silent” on the issue of immigration enforcement.</p><p>“They are really washing their hands of any accountability and continuously saying that they have to respect US Law,” he said.</p><p>He also urges the Philippine government to lodge diplomatic protest over alleged interrogation and detention of Filipino cruise ship workers.</p><p>The Philippine Consulate and the Department of Foreign Affairs have yet to issue a comment on the matter.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FpZoebHBeBk?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rkATWueucFA?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><br/></div>

<p>Several Filipino worker groups in the United States denounced the alleged maltreatment of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) against migrants, including Filipinos.</p>

Several Filipino worker groups in the United States denounced the alleged maltreatment of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) against migrants, including Filipinos.

OFW groups in US decry 'cruel, inhumane' treatment of ICE vs Filipino migrants

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OFW groups in US decry 'cruel, inhumane' treatment of ICE vs Filipino migrants

Harlene Delgado,

ABS-CBN News

Published October 31, 2025 01:39 PM PHT

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ICE

US

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