"My advice to them is to immediately leave voluntarily because once you are deported you can never come back to the United States," Jose Manuel Romualdez stated during a virtual interview which was re-aired by NBC Los Angeles on Wednesday.
The outlet pointed out that this statement is not necessarily accurate, as the current US policy is to place a 10-year ban on any person caught within the country illegally, only permitting them to return legally after.
"My advice for them is to not wait to be deported," Romualdez added.
Speaking to Filipinos in Long Beach, CA, an NBS reporter said that members of the community had flocked to their local migrant center after hearing the warning to get clarification and formulate a plan.
There are around 4 million Filipinos in the United States and the Long Beach migrant center estimates that around 1 in 4 are in the country Illegally.
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