Law enforcement officers stand amid smoke from a smoke grenade released to disperse demonstrators in front of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters in Portland, Oregon, on October 4, 2025. REUTERS (2nd UPDATE) Mark Mabasa applied for asylum before new policies targeting asylum seekers were announced, and his uncle argues that he is working honestly to support his family AT A GLANCE Mark Mabasa, son of slain journalist Percy Lapid, has been detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in California. Mabasa's family received death threats following Lapid's assassination, and concerns have been raised by the US embassy regarding their safety. This is AI-generated. Read the article for full context. Report any errors. MANILA, Philippines – US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have detained Mark Louis Santiago Mabasa, son of slain Filipino journalist Percy Lapid, his uncle Roy Mabasa confirmed on Tuesday, September 29. In an exchange with Rappler, Mabasa said he is still awaiting further details. “Yup, confirmed. I am waiting for details,” the older Mabasa, also a journalist, told Rappler. The ICE website said he is detained at the Ice Processing Center in Adelanto, California. There was no other information on the website under status of case. Mabasa said Mark arrived in the United States in February 2023, a few months after still unknown gunmen killed Lapid near his home in Paranaque on October 3, 2022. It is not clear when Mark applied for asylum. But Mabasa said it was way before US President Donald Trump bared a new policy targeting asylum seekers, claiming economic migrants have been abusing the process. What is clear is that in the weeks and months following Lapid’s assassination, his family, including Mark and Roy, received death threats. The US embassy was among the foreign government representatives that expressed grave concern over Lapid’s murder and the threats against his kin. Authorities have tagged former Bureau of Corrections chief Gerald Bantag as the alleged mastermind in Lapid’s killing. The former cop and his co-accused remain at large, although the government a few months back said he was among the targets of a manhunt. Filipino migrants rights advocates, who asked to remain anonymous for now, said he was detained on September 21 after arriving at the Los Angeles International Airport from a gig in Chicago. Lapid’s son is a singer-actor and part of the touring Beks Battalion’s Laff Control Project. His family is supposedly based a few hours from LA. “I don’t see anything wrong with Mark working honestly and supporting himself and his family, rather than becoming a burden on taxpayers,” his uncle said. “More importantly, that Trump policy came much later, after he had already filed his asylum application. That timeline matters,” Mabasa added. Migrants rights advocates said that after asylum applicants file their documents, they can apply for temporary work permits after 150 days. Approval by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (UPCIS) will take 180 days from the submission of complete asylum papers. The American Immigration Council reported on July 26 that work permits issued after December 4, 2025 have been shortened to 18 months from the previous 5-year work permits. Permits issued before December 2025 are valid for five years. The Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles confirmed the arrest and said it had conducted a welfare check on Mabasa. In a statement forwarded by the LA-based Philippine Post, the consulate general said the welfare check was conducted at the request of Mabasa’s family and was “part of the Consulate’s commitment to extend appropriate consular assistance to Filipino nationals within the scope of its mandate and applicable laws and regulations.” “The Consulate General would like to appeal to the public to refrain from discussing or commenting on Mr. Mabasa’s case, in deference to his family’s request for privacy.” On Friday, October 2, Senator Risa Hontiveros called for the immediate release of Mabasa. “It is unacceptable that a person who has been seeking asylum is detained without a clear reason. Matagal nang nag-apply ng asylum si Mark at ang iba pang myembro ng pamilya ni Percy Lapid pagkatapos ng katakot-takot na mga death threats dito sa Pilipinas. (Mark and other members of Percy Lapid’s family have long applied for asylum following numerous death threats here in the Philippines.) Our government should be able to help expedite his release as soon as possible,” she said. “The government had already failed to protect Percy’s life. The least we can do now is ensure that our citizens are safe wherever they are in the world,” she added In 2022, Hontiveros exposed in a press conference the death threats allegedly received by the Mabasa family from an unknown caller. Hontiveros said she has raised Mark’s case with Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose “Babes” Romualdez and US Ambassador to the Philippines Lee Lipton. – Rappler.com How does this make you feel? Loading