LOS ANGELES - Members of Migrante from different chapters in the US trooped to the offices of the Philippine Consulate General and Department of Migrant Workers here to put pressure on Philippine government officials to intervene in the release and provide immediate assistance to migrant Filipino workers on ICE detention.

In its National Day of Action Friday, Migrante USA, which is part of the Tanggol Migrante Network, is seeking the release of green card holders Lewelyn Dixon, Maximo Londonio and Rodante Rivera and other  detained Filipino migrants as part of President Trump's  crackdown on migrant “criminals.”

A march from La Fayette Park was held prior to the rally held in front of the PCG Los Angeles by about a hundred Migrante USA members attending its national assembly in southern California this weekend.

The protest is part of the nationwide coordinated action which also included a phone barrage to the seven consular offices calling for the release of detained Filipinos and accountability from Philippine Ambassadorto the US Jose Manuel Romualdez.

In a press statement, Tanggol Migrante said that Filipino communities have been calling Romualdez and the San Francisco Philippine Consulate to help Filipino migrant workers in crisis– with little to no response. 

“The families of the detainees expressed anger and grief over their loved ones not receiving adequate help, despite the consulate having diplomatic ability and financial resources, “ Tanggol Migrante said added.

At the PCG-Los Angeles, Migrante USA submitted a handwritten letter with its demands to Consul General Adelio Cruz who was not at his office and was out of town. The meeting with Labor Attache Macy Maglanque was brief by the door of the Department of Migrant Workers office because she was in a different meeting.

The family of Zenar de la Cruz, then detained at the Aurora ICE Detention Facility in Colorado and was deported to the Philippines last week without the knowledge of his wife and children in San Diego, also joined the Migrante meet with Philippine government officials and rally.

De la Cruz, who worked as a caregiver and three minor children, had completed serving his sentence for charges that his wife said were fabricated when picked up by ICE in Riverside, California. He is not yet a permanent resident and his US citizen wife was in the process of submitting his paperwork when the case was filed against him.

Other rallies were held at the PCG in San Francisco and the Northwest ICE Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington where the three Filipino green card holders are currently being held. Members of Londonio's union, International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers Local District 695, were present and called for his release.  Rivera’s wife was expected to speak at the rally in Tacoma.

Since Trump’s assumption into office, Tanggol Migrante said there has been an upsurge in the detention of Filipino green-card holders or married to US citizens with legal residency because of their record of non-violent criminal offenses and convictions which they have served and requirements complied with.

In April, this year, there were six Filipino green card holders detained at the Northwest ICE Detention Center according to the information provided by Dixon to Tanggol Migrante. Michele and another Filipino-Japanese from Alaska were released last April 30 on orders of an immigration court judge. The three other Filipino detainees were not identified.

In the past two weeks, two more Filipino green card holders Maximo Londonio and Rodante Rivera were flagged by Custom and Border Protection agents at the Seattle Tacoma Airport upon arrival from the Philippines, similar to what happened to Dixon and Michele, who was first detained at the San Francisco International Airport last February.

Londonio, 42, who travelled with his wife Crystal and teenage daughter after a month-long vacation, had made trips to the Philippines before where he wasn’t held by customs for more than 20 minutes. The father of three who moved to the US when he was 12, had a previous nonviolent conviction as a young adult which has been resolved and his wife believed that caused ICE to flag him at the SeaTac Airport last May 15. He was transferred to the ICE detention center in Tacoma on May 20.

Rivera, whose wife has been a US citizen for more than 20 years, is also permanent resident since 1997 and has three children. He was detained by ICE at the SeaTac Airport on the basis of non-violent crimes committed years ago upon his return from the Philippines on May 18 and transferred to the Northwest Detention Center on May 21.

Tanggol Migrante said he has significant health conditions that requires urgency for the PCG San Francisco to ensure his release and access to adequate medical care.Rivera’s wife requested the Consulate to use their diplomacy to intervene in any transfer, to provide a welfare check, and if there are any legal or financial resources they could offer to no avail, according to Tanggol Migrante.

Dixon’s release is also being pushed as her hearing approaches on May 29. Tanggol Migrante said that “for over three months, the family has been met with empty promises - and sometimes even lies to their face - about how they would help to advocate for her release” which they expressed “is not an anomaly” on the part of Philippine government officials.

Her family and friends in Hawaii and the continental US are submitting a letter to Philippine government officials in the US to push for support for her release because this will ensure her health and protection while acknowledging PCG San Francisco’s efforts sending a letter to ICE for concern of her well-being in detention.

Even before this crackdown on migrants, the Tanggol Migrante said it has called on the Philippine government to take a proactive approach to protect our kababayans who left the country for jobs in the US to provide for their families.