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588 Indonesians in US on final deportation order: Ministry
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Demonstrators march to protest US President Trump's immigration policies during the "Immigrants Make America Great March" in Los Angeles, California, on February 18, 2017 (AFP/Mark RALSTON)
T
he Indonesian Foreign Ministry’s citizen protection director, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, has said that 588 Indonesians currently residing in the United States will be deported following US President Donald Trump’s tough policy against illegal immigrants.
“They have been given the final deportation order. They once had this status but the then US government gave them leeway so they could remain,” Lalu told reporters in Manado, North Sulawesi on Wednesday.
According to the ministry, a significant number of Minahasa people from North Sulawesi are residing in the US as undocumented migrants. For years, they have been allowed to remain and work in the US, and most of them now have better lives. They live in New Hampshire, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Lalu said many of those on the deportation list fled Indonesia to escape religious and ethnic persecution in the 1990s, but their requests for asylum were rejected by US courts. “Some others are those who used tourist visas but then overstayed,” he said.
Read also: Indonesians who fled 1998 riots ‘have ground’ to stay in US
The policy risks the Indonesians being separated from their family, as some of them who were born in the US are US citizens.
Previously, Reuters reported that around 2,000 Chinese-Indonesians who fled to New Hampshire, US, to escape the 1998 riots were at risk of being deported by US President Donald Trump’s administration. (bbs)
