HARBOR DRIVE (KGTV) — Protesters are demanding answers after they say at least 26 Filipino seafarers were detained and deported by Customs and Border Protection at the end of April.
Demonstrators with the Pilipino Workers Center marched along Harbor Drive Saturday morning, chanting "Save our seafarers, SOS" in support of the 26 Filipino seafarers who were deported in late April.
Aquilina Soriano Versoza, executive director of the Pilipino Workers Center, said the workers had completed a full vetting process before being removed.
"They're just workers who work on the cruise ship and went through a full process of background checks certifications."
Versoza said the seafarers were taken off boats, interviewed and had their visas canceled the same day before being sent back to the Philippines.
"Taken off of the boats, interviewed, had their visas canceled same day and they were deported, flown back to the Philippines, handcuffed, treated as criminals," Versoza said.
She said the deportations are an attack on the most vulnerable and the least connected.
"They are housekeeping attendants. They are chefs, work in the galleys and various attendants that make up the lower-paid positions on the cruise ship."
The center shared the stories of seafarers who were deported, including one account describing the moment of detention.
"At that moment, I felt my whole world collapse. I asked if I could call a lawyer. I asked if I could contact the Philippine embassy or speak to a consulate representative. She told me I had no right to those things."
In a previous statement, CBP told us that between April 23 and April 27, CBP boarded eight cruise ships as part of "ongoing child sexual exploitation material enforcement operations."
CBP said that out of 26 suspected crew members from the Philippines, one suspected crew member from Portugal and one from Indonesia, 27 of the 28 people were involved in "receipt, possession, transportation, distribution or viewing of CSEM or child pornography."
CBP said it canceled their visas and the individuals were deported to their country of citizenship.
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