THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) reported that the bureau’s intelligence officers were able to arrest 158 aliens who violated the country’s immigration laws in 2021.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said the illegal aliens were arrested by members of the BI’s intelligence division in various operations conducted in different areas nationwide.
Majority of those accosted were Chinese with 86 arrests, followed by Koreans with 37 arrests, and Nigerians with 10.
Others include 6 Indians, 4 Americans, 4 British nationals, 3 Japanese, 2 Indonesians, a Dutch, a German, a Tunisian, a Cambodian, a Lebanese, and a Singaporean.
This is lower than the 510 arrested in 2020 primarily because of the imposition of travel restrictions for arriving foreigners, according to Morente.
“Since only those with valid and existing long-term visas are allowed entry in the country, we saw a major decrease in the number of foreign nationals in the Philippines,” said Morente. “Apart from that, many of those who were already in the country were repatriated back to their homelands,” he added.
Apart from the 158 arrested by the intelligence division, the BI also earlier reported 83 foreign fugitives arrested by the BI’s fugitive search unit, bringing the total arrested aliens to 241.
“The pandemic has been a challenge for our operations,” said Morente. “However, we will not stop until we have rid the country of these illegal aliens who do not respect our laws. We will find them, arrest them, and deport them,” he warned.