Migrants released from federal custody to seek asylum in New York offered a host of reasons Thursday for wanting to stay in the U.S. — some of which don’t seem to fit the bill.
Venezuelan-born Miguel Angel Naranjo, 38, told The Post that he, his wife and two sons left their home in Colombia largely in hopes of getting better health care for the older boy, 3 -year-old Sebastian, who has autism.
“The economy was bad. The rent was impossible to pay,” he told the Department of the Homeless Family Drop-in Center in the Bronx.
“Sebastian needs treatment. He needs a special diet. He needs bottles, diapers, milk. Food, life, clothes – that’s why we’re here.
Naranjo complained that he was shaken up to get to his job selling train tickets at home.
“The military wanted money from me to go to work. I was paying to go to work,” he said in Spanish.
“We’re fed up. My wife was scared. I said, “Let’s go.” “
Foreign nationals can seek asylum in America if they have suffered or fear persecution in their home country because of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Applicants can also apply for a work permit in the US, but no earlier than five months after they have applied for asylum and are not allowed to start work for at least another month.
Angie, a single mother of a 4-year-old daughter, said she left Bogotá, Colombia, “for many reasons.”
“There are threats. Vaccines are hard to come by. I’m a single mother,” she said.
“Columbia is in bad shape right now.”
Venezuelan-born Miguel Angel Naranjo left his homeland to seek better health care for his autistic son. J. Messerschmidt/NY Post
Angie said she was scheduled to meet with immigration officials in Lower Manhattan on Aug. 19, adding, “I’m hoping they’ll refer me to see if I qualify for asylum.”
Erika Vargas and her husband decide to leave Bogotá after the older of their two children, 24-year-old Nicholas, is kidnapped “for many days” by a criminal cartel.
“One of my main concerns is to find medical help for my son because he suffers from depression and wakes up frightened by nightmares,” she said.
Others with what appear to be more serious asylum claims include Junie Urbina, 28, who said her husband Leonardo was beaten by Chavista socialist thugs in their native Venezuela because he was a poll worker for an opposition conservative party.
Juni Urbina and her family were put on a bus to New York from a church in San Antonio.J. Messerschmidt/NY Post
In addition, Leonardo only earned a minimum wage of $3 an hour.
“In Venezuela, everything is too expensive to live well,” she said.
The couple and their two children crossed the border into Texas and were taken by Border Patrol agents to a processing center where “they gave us a quick screening,” Urbina said.
“They said, ‘Don’t lose your documents and come to your next immigration appointment,'” she recalled.
“We hope to stay, get a better quality of life, survive.”
Then, Urbina said, her family was put on a bus to New York from a church in San Antonio.
Last year, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced $110 million in funding available to “nonprofit, faith-based and government organizations that have provided or will provide humanitarian assistance to individuals and families at the southern border with shelter, food and support services.” “
Jonathan Hernandez no longer felt safe in Venezuela. He left with his family to live in New York. J. Messerschmidt/NY Post
Jonathan Hernandez, 39, said he also belongs to an opposition conservative party in Venezuela and decided to flee the country with his wife and daughter in June after the Chavistas threatened him and stole his bicycle.
“We left because of the government,” he said.
“They were after us, so either they killed us or we’re coming here.”
Hernandez said the family came to New York because he had friends who lived here and vouched for him with immigration officials.
“All we were told was to come to our immigration meeting and plead our case,” he said.
“We definitely want to get asylum and I want to get a job.”
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