XPost: 24hoursupport.helpdesk, alt.politics.scorched-earth, uk.politics.misc   
   XPost: uk.legal, alt.politics.uk   
   From: burfordTjustice@tues.uk   
      
   Wonder why they are not wanting to to the UK, Cuba or Brazil??   
      
   Venezuelans lead in US asylum requests as crisis deepens   
      
   New data shows Venezuelans are leading asylum requests to the United States   
   for the first time, as the middle class in the country are fleeing the   
   crashing, oil-dependent economy.   
      
   The U.S. government's Citizenship and Immigration Services reported that   
   18,155 Venezuelans submitted asylum requests last year, a 150 percent increase   
   over 2015 and six times the level seen in 2014.   
      
   Data showed China in second place, with 17,745 requests coming from the   
   country’s citizens.   
      
   In 2014 a large number of Venezuelans sought asylum following months of   
   protests seeking to oust President Nicolas Maduro.    
      
   A large surge in applicants took place since late 2015 after the opposition   
   took control of congress in a landslide election, giving hope to many that it   
   could disrupt 17 years of socialist rule. Instead of reaching out to his   
   opponents, Maduro    
   retrenched and Venezuelans began to uproot as triple-digit inflation   
   pulverized salaries and widespread food and medicine shortages made life   
   unbearable for many.   
      
   A large number of the asylum seekers are middle-class Venezuelans who don’t   
   qualify for refugee status reserved for those seeking to escape political   
   persecution, according to Julio Henriquez, director of the Boston-based   
   nonprofit Refugee Freedom    
   Program.   
      
   "The pace at which requests are increasing is alarming," said Henriquez, whose   
   group obtained the still-unpublished data in a Feb. 8 meeting between U.S.   
   officials and immigration lawyers. "It's not just worrisome that so many   
   people are escaping the    
   terrible situation in Venezuela but also that the practice of sending   
   asylum-seekers with poor advice and false proof is proliferating."   
      
   According to the Department of Homeland Security’s estimate of visa   
   overstays, Venezuela became one of the top 10 countries whose citizens   
   overstayed their U.S. visas during the fiscal year in 2015.    
      
   Venezuelans seeking U.S. asylum represent a small share of the overall   
   Venezuelan immigrant population, some of whom have made their home in the U.S.   
   for decades.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)