The Philippine government on Monday said it was hoping for policy changes favoring undocumented Filipino immigrants under a Biden administration in the US.
“Inaasahan po natin na sana magkaroon ng policy shift under a Democratic administration,” Palace spokesman Harry Roque said in a virtual presser.
Roque expressed hope that under Joseph Biden’s presidency, undocumented Filipino immigrants would be given the chance to become US residents.
Incumbent US President Donald Trump has a rigid policy against illegal immigrants, including a bid to exclude them from census counts.
Roque also said President Rodrigo Duterte was ready for a new chapter in Philippine ties with the US.
“The president is keeping an open mind as he should. It will be a new start, but we have no prejudgments as far as President-elect Biden is concerned other than the position that we’re able and willing to work with all leaders of the world,” he said.
According to the Migration Policy Institute, there were more than two million Filipino immigrants in the US, which accounted for 4.5 percent of the country’s 44.7 million immigrants in 2018.
Democrats Biden and Kamala Harris, a daughter of immigrants, have been projected to win the US presidency and vice presidency, respectively. John Ezekiel J. Hirro