MANILA(January 16) — The Philippines is not among the 75 countries whose citizens will be barred from applying for US immigrant visas starting January 21 — a relief for many Filipino families with long-running migration plans.
But Filipino American advocates say the exemption offers little real security amid a broader tightening of US immigration enforcement that continues to place immigrants — including Filipinos — in a precarious position.
The US State Department announced this week that it will suspend immigrant visa processing for permanent residency for nationals of 75 countries, citing concerns that migrants from those nations rely on public assistance “at unacceptable rates.” Tourist and business visas are not covered.
Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez confirmed that Filipinos are not affected by the freeze.
Community advocates, however, warn that the policy reflects a growing culture of suspicion toward immigrants.
“Being excluded from the list doesn’t mean Filipinos are safe,” one Filipino American immigration advocate said. “It just means we’re not the immediate target — and that can change overnight.”
A separate directive reportedly sent to US embassies and consulates instructs officers to more closely screen all visa applicants, including non-immigrants, for signs they might later seek public benefits. Advocates say this disproportionately affects working-class migrants, including nurses, caregivers, teachers, and family-sponsored applicants from the Philippines.
“The message is clear: if you’re poor, you’re not welcome,” another Filipino American organizer said. “That hits Filipinos hard because many of us migrate through family reunification or frontline jobs, not wealth.”
The Philippines remains one of the top sources of immigrants to the US, with more than 4 million Filipino Americans living there — the third-largest Asian American group — concentrated mainly in California, Hawaii, and Texas.
Yet size and visibility have not translated into protection.
In May last year, Filipino teachers participating in a five-year exchange program with the Hawaii Department of Education were raided by armed agents of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Maui. The agents were reportedly searching for a convicted felon who was not present, but the teachers and their families were allegedly forced out of their homes at gunpoint.
“The Maui raid shattered the idea that legal status equals safety,” an advocate familiar with the case said. “These were licensed professionals recruited by the US government — and still, they were treated like criminals.”
For Filipino communities, the latest visa freeze offers reassurance on paper but little comfort on the ground. Advocates warn that expanding discretionary screening, aggressive enforcement, and rhetoric linking migrants to economic burden leave Filipinos one policy shift away from exclusion.
“As long as immigration policy is driven by fear and punishment,” one advocate said, “no immigrant community — including Filipinos — is truly secure.”
