Polish deportations from the USA: Facts and Data

Recently, the Polish Ministry of abroad Affairs (MSZ) has alerted about the anticipation of deportation of Polish citizens from the United States. Deputy Head of the Ministry of abroad Affairs, Henryk Mościcka-Dendys, informed that Polish consuls estimation that the number of Poles who may be deported from the US is up to 30,000 people throughout the United States.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk informed that he had addressed the head of the Ministry of abroad Affairs Radosław Sikorski with the advice that Polish consulates in the United States be prepared for possible deportations of Poles from the US, in connection with the announcements of president Donald Trump. The head of Polish diplomacy, Radosław Sikorski, wrote on platform X: “Roads surviving abroad, which ended with the validity of the passport, are invited to get fresh documents. In the US, we besides establish additional consular posts outside consulate buildings. It is besides worth doing so to be able to vote in the election for president of Poland."

According to MFA data, those affected by the deportation may seem "untypical from the point of view of our thought of who could be specified an illegal immigrant." These are very frequently Poles who left for the United States in the 1990s and did not take care to regulate their migration status. According to Paweł Wroński, a spokesperson for the Ministry of abroad Affairs, “we effort to do as precise a respect as possible, we presume that this is simply a maximum of tens of thousands of people.”

In this context, it is worth noting that in 2019, according to the U.S. State Department data, there were about 9.1 million people in the United States without valid residence documents. Of this, about 1.7 million are European citizens, including 218,000 Poles.

On Monday, just after the swearing-in of Donald Trump, he signed respective regulations and documents, including declaring a state of emergency on the border with Mexico and changing the law of the land, i.e. acquiring citizenship with birth in the United States. According to the paper issued, this right is not intended to apply to children of illegal immigrants and persons residing in the US for short term, including, for example, visa-free travel.

Therefore, the MFA calls on Polish citizens residing in the United States to guarantee that their migration position is regulated and to check the validity of their documents. In addition, Polish consulates in the United States are prepared to assist and support Polish citizens if necessary.

It is worth noting that deportations may have serious consequences for those affected. They may lose the right to reside in the United States, the right to work and the right to benefit from healthcare. In addition, deportations can besides origin household separation and failure of friends.

Therefore, the MFA and Polish consulates in the United States will take all essential steps to aid Polish citizens regulate their migration position and avoid deportation. At the same time, the Polish government will effort to conduct talks with the American authorities to find solutions to avoid deportation of Polish citizens.