The United States will prioritize the arrest and deportation of illegal immigrants with criminal records, Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez said on Thursday.

"They will deport first those with criminal records, especially those who are involved in terrorist activities," Romualdez said in a radio interview.

He said undocumented Filipinos in the US should start to get advice from a lawyer on how to legalize their stay in America.

Romualdez said there are Filipino-American lawyers who volunteer to help illegal Filipino immigrants in legalizing their stay in the US.

"Most of them (illegal immigrants), they did not attend to it. That is why now we are telling them that they really need to do it. They will be strict," he said.

Based on his estimate, there were about 300,000 to 350,000 Filipinos who are illegally staying in the United States.

Romualdez also expressed concern of possible cases of " slave employees" among the illegal immigrants.

"Being here illegally is a crime so therefore they have to really arrest you and deport you," he said.

He also reiterated calls for illegal immigrants to voluntarily return to the Philippines instead of being deported by the US government, noting that those who were deported will never have a chance to go back again in America. Robina Asido/DMS