Are Americans Eligible for Refugee Status?

Written By Leeja Miller

Sources:

Transcript:

Hi you’re tuned into Why, America, I’m Leeja Miller. Today is another how to get the fuck out episode. Back in April I made an episode titled Is It Time To Leave The US and it has 1.2 million views as of this recording. Clearly the people, myself included, are thinking about this question. And one question within this question I’ve gotten a TON since then, is whether US citizens would have a valid asylum claim to gain entry to another country. Is America at the point where its citizens are now refugees? Today we’re talking what it takes to qualify, whether it’s realistic for Americans, and I’m giving an update to the GTFO-meter from my last video on this in April.

Okay, can you seek asylum? MAJOR DISCLAIMER: I am NOT your lawyer and this is NOT legal advice, this is for educational purposes only, proceed at your own risk, it is ALWAYS recommended to seek the advice of a licensed attorney before making ANY legal decisions do not put your fate in the hands of a video you saw on the internet for the love of God.

Okay so as an asylum seeker you would be considered a refugee, not an immigrant. That’s an important distinction because there is international law and country-specific law that deals with asylum seeking refugees differently from other at-will immigrants. So what’s the difference?

An immigrant is someone who is willingly choosing to move to another country of their own free will, to live or work or reunite with family or what have you. They are seeking permission from the host country to enter and remain. They are asking to be granted privileges that the host country has complete discretion over deciding whether or not to grant. On the other hand, an asylum seeker, a refugee, is someone outside their own country of origin or habitual residence that is asking the host country for protection from persecution or serious harm. Under international law, seeking asylum is a human right. According to the UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, “every person in the world has the right to apply for asylum if they are fleeing conflict, violence, persecution, or other serious events compelling them to leave their own country and seek refuge elsewhere.”

Ok can you, an American citizen, seek asylum in another country? Yes. That is a human right you have. You can do so at any time. But hold onto your britches because it’s of course not a simple process. And even though there are international protections in place for refugees, QUALIFYING as a refugee is very difficult. The country where you are seeking asylum will have a process known as a Refugee Status Determination where it will be determined whether or not you qualify. According to the UNHCR, generally speaking the process involves an initial registration or application stage, followed by a personal interview, and finally a decision-making stage where the claim is assessed and a determination is made.

Okay but who qualifies as a refugee? Again, this is going to be country-specific, but international law provides a framework. In the wake of World War 2, a lot of shit happened to try to ensure that nothing like that ever happened again, and those efforts have largely been successful for the last 80 years. One of the things that happened was the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, the result of a diplomatic conference held in Geneva in the wake of the war. The convention was specifically aimed at refugees fleeing Europe as a result of the war. Then the 1967 Protocol, the only amendment to that convention, was added to expand refugee protection across the globe. 149 countries are parties to the 1951 Convention or its 1967 Protocol. Those that are not are mainly located in Northern Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.

Article 1 of the 1951 Convention defines a refugee as someone who "owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of [their] nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail [themself] of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of [their] former habitual residence, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it." The central concept is that of non-refoulement, meaning a person should not be forcibly sent back to a place where they have a reasonable fear of persecution. And if you’re like wait that’s literally what the Trump administration is doing to immigrants, yes you are correct. In 8 short months the Trump regime has broken innumerable international laws. What can be done about it? Nothing. International law has no teeth. It’s main enforcement mechanism is naming and shaming the countries that don’t comply, something that does not work when you have an administration that feels no shame.

AD

Often, the way news outlets report on a story differs depending on the bias of the publication. And it’s hard to know how YOUR own perception of bias influences your interpretation of the news. This headline from the Associated Press caught my eye “US signs agreements with Guatemala and Honduras to take asylum-seekers, Noem says”--basically they’re trying to get around international humanitarian and refugee laws. Using the Ground News browser extension, I can see that in the US the Associated Press is considered “left leaning.” To get a fuller picture of the story on all sides of the political spectrum I can click on Full Coverage, which will show me coverage of the same story from publications across the political spectrum.

My partner on today’s video, Ground News, uses 3 independent monitoring organizations to assess the bias rating for each publication. Each news monitoring organization has their own methodology - including editorial reviews, blind bias surveys, independent reviews, and third party research. These are legit INDEPENDENT organizations, but they are limited by the data available to them: their analysis is done in the context of the U.S. political system. Our overton window has shifted so far right that the Associated Press is considered “left leaning.” That tells you a lot about the context within which the media you’re consuming operates. And thanks to Ground News, I get even more context, including how factual each publication is and who owns it, giving me a well-rounded idea of the motivations, biases, and accuracy of the news I’m consuming. Wouldn’t it be great if everyone in America had that much information about the news they consume??

Because depending on where you or your family members get the news, you’re going to get very different takes on the same story.

This is where Ground News comes in - and why I've been using them for over a year. Today’s partner Ground News is an app and website that offers tools to help you critically analyze the news you read, providing context to understand the full picture. I feel better equipped to make sense of what’s happening in the world without being influenced by just one perspective. And listen I’m not the only one who loves Ground News, the Nobel Peace Center even called it "an excellent way to stay informed, avoid echo chambers, and expand your worldview.”

I’m always really impressed with Ground News and genuinely think they’re a great resource. If you want to stay informed on US Politics and more Subscribe through this QR code or our link below at ground dot news slash leeja for 40% off this unlimited access Vantage Plan. It comes out to $5 a month for unlimited access to ALL the features I’ve mentioned. Thanks Ground News!

So you have to have a “well-founded” fear of persecution, and that persecution has to be related to your race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, and you must be outside your country of nationality, and you must be unable or unwilling to return. But if we’re putting on our legal hats here, there are certain terms in there that require defining. Specifically, what is “well founded” fear? What is “persecution”?

As you may guess, this is exceptionally fact dependent. So each applicant is going to be looked at individually, at least in theory, to determine their specific situation. In order to determine whether the fear you feel is “well-founded” the asylum officer is going to look at the facts currently present in your country as well as the evidence you present of why you feel the fear that you do. This doesn’t necessarily require that you personally have been persecuted, your fear can be based upon the persecution of your family members or other similarly situated individuals. Each country may have its own specific definition or set of guidelines for determining what fear is “well-founded.” “Persecution” can mean danger of torture, a risk to your life, or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment. This persecution can be meted out by the state or arms of the state but it could also be non-state actors doing the persecution while the government cannot or will not intervene to give you the protection you are owed.

You apply for asylum at a port of entry, like a border crossing or an airport, or you can apply when you are already inside the country with which you would like to apply for asylum. Unlike traditional immigration and visa applications, you cannot apply for asylum from outside of the country you are attempting to flee to. When you make your application with the immigration authorities, you say I have fear of persecution in my home country. You state what that persecution may be–violence, risk to your life, risk of cruel or unusual treatment. And you show that fear is well-founded because, and then provide all the evidence you can of why your race, religion, political opinion, nationality, and/or membership in a social group like women or people of a particular sexual orientation or gender identity puts you at risk of said persecution. That evidence could be documentation of other people like you being persecuted: news articles, data, statistics, video, reports, etc., and/or evidence of your own experience of persecution–threats, time in detention, etc.. While you have a right to seek asylum you are not entitled to it unless you can prove you need it, so the onus is on you, hopefully with the help of an asylum attorney, to gather the evidence and present your case. Get your story straight, collect the evidence, print it out, have it on hand, contact an attorney. An attorney will provide a consultation and be able to tell you, based on your specific situation, whether it’s worth pursuing, and will help represent you at the asylum hearing, gather evidence, etc. The UNHCR has resources at help dot unhcr dot org. You will want to find an asylum attorney in the country where you are seeking asylum. So, for example, since Canada is so popular, I googled “asylum lawyer canada” and found the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada’s list of legal aid offices in each province. That’s where I’d start. But be sure you have gathered everything you can to make your case BEFORE contacting the lawyers in order to set yourself up for as much success as possible.

Okay, but will you be successful? I can’t give you an answer on that. Because things have been moving SO fast in the US over the last few months in terms of erosion of rights and democratic norms, international law and asylum law in this area is relatively untested based on current, on the ground realities. Even the standard documents that asylum evaluators look at aren't up to date at this point. For example, in Canada they use “National Documentation Packages” as standard sets of information that evaluators look at, in addition to your individual application, to determine the situation on the ground in your country and whether your fear is well founded based on international human rights data. One of the resources listed is the Freedom House freedom index. The US gets an 84 out of 100 on that index, a relatively high freedom rating. That rating has not been updated based on what’s happened in the last 8 months, and likely won’t be until next year. 84 out of 100 certainly isn’t an IMPRESSIVE score for a country that touts itself as the “free world”, there’s nearly 60 countries ahead of us on the score, compared to Canada which gets a 97 out of 100 and is tied for 5th place globally. But being mostly free doesn’t necessarily give you a great argument that, generally, the US is not a safe place to live and generally your rights are in danger. At least not based on data that people have had enough time to collect and tabulate. You will need to find a lawyer willing to help you make your case without there being many successful case studies to look to for support.

I found an article from Capital News Service from 2023 talking about a study conducted by Jayesh Rathod, a professor of law at American University. According to that paper, between the year 2000 and 2021, 14,00 asylum applications had been made by US citizens to other countries. 75% of those applicants were in Canada. Some were from political dissidents, people like Edward Snowden, some were domestic violence survivors attempting to flee their abusers, many were cases of families where the children were US citizens but the parents were immigrants who feared deportation and family separation, especially during Trump’s first term.

According to the article, quote “The United States makes for an interesting case because persecution does not exist equally across the country. Someone can move between states and find different levels of legal and social acceptance. Given the patchwork, most American asylum claims fail.

When asked how often these claims succeed, Rathod said: “Not very often. … of the 14,000 or so claims that were lodged by U.S. citizens from 2000-2021, fewer than 400 were granted.” This data is of course from before this second Trump term, which is absolutely more effectively eroding democracy and protections for certain groups in ways that are just beginning to be measured. According to Reuters, more Americans applied for refugee status in Canada in the first half of 2025 than in all of 2024. That number, 245 claims, is still miniscule compared to the total of 55,000 refugee claims made in Canada so far this year, but it is growing as more people are desperate to leave and the government is giving us more and more reasons to fear for our safety. Another note about Canada is that there is a treaty between the US and Canada which designates the US as a “safe country.” So anyone crossing into Canada at a land border with the US, who is seeking asylum, will be turned away, the idea being that you can’t come from, say, Mexico, cross through the US, and then seek asylum in Canada. You have to seek asylum in the first safe country you enter, in this case the US. So if you LIVE in the US and are trying to cross into Canada to seek asylum, you can’t do it at a land border crossing. Talk to a lawyer though.

OKAY so what does this mean, overall? The United States is a VERY difficult place to leave and seek asylum in another country, as of right now, despite the horrors, unless you have specific evidence of your own persecution. It’s not impossible, literally hundreds of people have done it. It’s just going to be very very difficult. On top of that, if you seek asylum in Canada, for example, and your asylum application is denied, that bars you from seeking asylum there again in the future. So the reality is that, if you want to leave the United States, seeking asylum should be your absolute last resort. Being an immigrant generally makes you very vulnerable, being an asylum seeker makes you even moreso, because you have to go to the country first and hope they accept your application. So if there’s any way you can get in somewhere without relying on refugee applications, I would go that route.

How do you do that? Here are some options: citizenship by descent if you have family from another country, that’s what I did, create a MyHeritage account, talk to your ma or your auntie, see if anyone has any intel on if anyone from your family came from where and what and when and whomst. If you are a descendant of enslaved people your lineage can be hard or impossible to track but there are some countries where you don’t have to. Benin and Ghana both offer citizenship routes for people of African descent generally, something that can be proven with a simple DNA test. Spain is one of the most accessible countries to get into if you have your eyes on Europe. If you are a national of a country in Latin America, Andorra, the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, Portugal, or a person of Sephardic origin, you can get citizenship in Spain after 2 years of residency. To gain residency in Spain for two years, you need a valid residency visa which comes in a number of forms: student visa, business visa to open a business in Spain, or digital nomad visa where you can work remotely in Spain. For those who aren’t nationals of the countries I listed, you can gain permanent residency in Spain if you are there as a legal temporary resident for five years, which is similar for a lot of European countries. The digital nomad visa in Spain is good for three years and then renewable for two more. You have to show you have 3 years of experience in your given field and make about 30,000 euros a year to qualify. Madrid is expensive but there are smaller towns in Spain with incredibly accessible living costs.

You can move to the Netherlands and start a business and get a visa that way. You can get a student visa. Norway and Germany have many universities that are free, even to international students. If I had zero options I would apply for a free university to study whatever skill is in demand in that country and find the cheapest flight there. The Technical University of Munich charges 85 euros per semester, I found a $372 flight from Minneapolis to Munich, once I got there I’d find the first customer service job I could, get a few roommates, and make it work. Other options include teaching English as a second language or working as an au pair or nanny for some wealthy family, both of which offer lots of opportunities all over the world. It’s not easy, you won’t be handed an opportunity, you’ll probably cry a lot. But people do it every day, whether it’s to come here to America or, increasingly, to get the fuck out. The ultimate choice, because no matter what it is a choice, comes down to which hard you want to choose: living in an increasingly autocratic regime or existing as an immigrant in a foreign country. There is no easy choice, and the one that is right depends entirely on you. One caveat in all of this, something I see a lot in the comments whenever I talk about leaving the United States, is from disabled folks who feel trapped and like they have no options. I just want to say I see you and it fucking sucks and it’s not fair. I have done so much googling, as I’m sure you have too, to try to find some secret trap door to pull open for you guys, something where I can say hey actually this is the secret!! Unfortunately I have not found that. If you are disabled and unable to work, and you don’t have a bank account overflowing with cash, your options truly are limited, and mostly bad. That is deeply unfair and infuriating. I’m infuriated for you that this country has failed you and that the world is fucking cruel. Just living in this world with ADHD often feels like I’m fucking trapped inside my body and my stupid brain that doesn’t work right, so I can’t imagine the immense fury and hopelessness you may be feeling right now. I wish I had a solution to offer you on a silver platter, but I don’t, but I wanted to acknowledge that. If you are in a red state right now and trying to get to a blue state, I am in Minnesota and truly wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in this country. You can still find studios and one bedrooms to rent for under a thousand bucks, groceries, rent, and gas prices have not skyrocketed here like they have elsewhere, we’ve been investing in public transit, and we, at least for now, have a local government that seems to give a shit about providing its people with social services. I know that’s also not accessible for many, but anecdotally I have heard just moving from a red state to a blue state can be an incredible improvement. And living just a six hour drive from the Canadian border does offer at least a glimmer of some peace of mind.

And as for my GTFO-meter from back in April, in my personal assessment, anyone not in the “Ur fine” category should consider themselves in the get your shit together category or higher. Make sure you have a passport. Make sure you have copies of your birth certificate and your marriage certificate. Get an apostille stamp on them–just Google apostille and your state to find the government authority in your state that does it, it’s spelled like apostille but pronounced a-po-stee, it’s French, I don’t know, but having that stamp on your birth certificate and other official government documents is required by some countries to ensure the validity of the document. Just take a moment to have a think on what you would do if you decide you’ve had enough, you don’t feel safe, and you have to flee. I’m not necessarily saying a go-bag, but like, a concept of a plan. Knowing your options isn’t a bad idea, and it’s not an overreaction either.

And if you can’t leave, consider this your near weekly reminder to know your neighbors, lean on your community, and do what you can to ground yourself in the present moment and make connections with the people you have around you.

If you want to support my work, all these episodes are ad free over on Patreon, patreon dot com slash Leeja Miller.

Thank you to my multi-platinum patrons Marc, Sarah Shelby, Art, David, R_H, L’etranger (Lukus), Thomas Johnson, and Tay. Your generosity makes this channel what it is, so thank you!

And if you liked this episode, you’ll like the one from Friday about how Nazis hated museums, too.

Leeja Miller
Previous

Why Trump REALLY Cares About Flag Burning
Next

Nazis Hated Museums, Too