Philippine-born husband and wife Rene and Joy Flores who were facing deportation for overstaying their tourist visa were reportedly granted asylum in the United States after their lawyer “presented news clippings from various publications of the Floreses joining various protest actions and quotations of their statements against [Philippine President Rodrigo] Duterte’s alleged violations of human rights.”
This sets a precedent for other overstaying and undocumented Filipino aliens in the United States to avoid the boot simply by joining protest rallies against Duterte. “Renowned” immigration lawyer Ted Laguatan who served as counsel for the couple is ecstatic.
“This is a very big thing. Many Filipinos in the U.S. similarly situated as the Floreses will have some hope that they might also be able to acquire legal status.”
According to Laguatan, the Immigration judge’s ruling favourable to the Floreses proves that the Duterte government is tyrannical as so-called “human rights activists” assert.
With [San Francisco Immigration Judge Ila Deiss’s] decision in granting this political asylum application of the Floreses, the Immigration Judge sent a loud message not only to Filipinos in the U.S., in the Philippines and other parts of the world that the extensive state-sponsored human rights violations instigated by President Rodrigo Duterte are a reality.
The ruling of an American immigration judge “proving” allegations of human rights abuse by a Philippine government is an astounding leap of logic that the Philippine Opposition will likely latch onto. More importantly, such a precedent set by this case will be a boon to the hundreds of thousands of Filipinos residing illegally in the United States as they will only have to start waving anti-Duterte protest placards to make their case to stay.
Laughing all the way to the bank will be Ted Laguatan whose renown amongst Filipino illegal aliens facing deportation can only grow as fast as the fees he likely stands to rake in following this win.
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