Filipino seafarers the US government illegally deported protested in front of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) office on November 19. The International Seafarers Action Center (ISAC) and Migrante International joined them in the demonstration.

Concurrent with the protest, the seafarers held a dialogue with Assistant Secretary (Asec) Jerome Pampolina and Asec Augusto San Diego of the DMW to explain their ordeal of injustice in the US’ illegal deportation.

The seafarers challenged DMW officials to defend their rights and take action against the unjust termination imposed on them by manning agencies. The officials stated they would summon these agencies’ representatives for a dialogue with the seafarers in the first week of December.

The US government has illegally deported more than 100 Filipino seafarers since last year, accusing them of possessing child pornography videos without evidence and thorough investigation. In September, the US embassy arbitrarily canceled the visas of seafarers who were about to leave the country. Because of this, all seafarers whose visas were revoked were blacklisted by manning agencies and were not given new assignments or jobs.

The violent pursuit and illegal deportation of migrants in the US is part of the Trump regime’s anti-migrant policy.