More Venezuelans seeking U.S. asylum

Newly released immigration statistics show a surge of Venezuelans seeking asylum,
residence and other immigration papers in the United States.
BY ALFONSO CHARDY AND CASEY WOODS
achardy@MiamiHerald.com

PETER ANDREW BOSCH/MIAMI HERALD STAFF
IN EXILE: The Costa family of Venezuela -- Alejandro, wife, Claudia, daughters Rianna, 11, front, and Paola, 9, and son Gabriel -- recently received asylum.
Asylum as an option
Parallels in Alejandro Costa's family history are unsettling.
His father, José Costa Moure, fled to Venezuela in 1959 after Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba. And after concluding that Castro's ally in Caracas, President Hugo Chávez, was turning Venezuela into another Cuba, Costa fled Venezuela in 2004.
More than 2,000 Venezuelans received U.S. asylum in 2004 and 2005, figures newly released by the Office of Immigration Statistics indicate. In 1997 -- the year before Chávez was first elected -- only nine Venezuelans received asylum in the United States.
The latest figures show a surge of Venezuelans moving to the United States either through asylum, permanent residence or other visas. The number of Venezuelans who got green cards in 2005 -- almost 11,000 U.S. permanent residents -- was more than double those in 2000.
Those who seek asylum are claiming persecution or that communism is about to take hold in Venezuela. In 2004 and 2005, more than 3,000 Venezuelans filed petitions for asylum in immigration courts -- a dramatic rise from 1997 to 2001, when only a few dozen applied each year.
Costa, 41, left in 2004 after thugs he believes were pro-Chávez beat up his wife Claudia and threatened to kill him. The couple and their two daughters and a son got asylum in 2005.
A prominent chef, Costa was running catering services for wealthy clients and major companies. His wife was a senior training executive for the Wendy's restaurant chain in Venezuela.
Costa said he got into trouble when he began a free catering service for employees of the Venezuelan oil giant Petróleos de Venezuela SA or PDVSA after they went on strike against Chávez in 2002.
His departure evoked memories of his father's past in Cuba.
''I kept thinking about my father, who was forced to leave his country because communism had taken over,'' Costa said. ``Now, the same thing was happening to me.''
FEAR OF PERSECUTION
To gain asylum, an applicant must prove a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. An applicant's sole testimony may be enough to prove persecution if it's deemed believable and detailed by either a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services asylum officer or an immigration judge.
Wilfredo Allen, a veteran Miami immigration lawyer who specializes in South American asylum cases, said more Venezuelans will seek asylum as a result of Chávez's Dec. 3 reelection, his Jan. 8 plan to nationalize electricity and telecommunications companies and his Jan. 10 vow of ``socialism or death.''
''Before, many of our Venezuelan clients did not want to ask for asylum because they were convinced the opposition would defeat Chávez,'' Allen said. ``The fact he won will begin the stampede to leave.''
Some Venezuelan expatriates say they merit protection and would like to see a U.S. law, similar to the Cuban Adjustment Act, to expedite their claims to stay.
''We think Venezuelans will need something like what the Cubans have in the short term because the situation is getting worse all the time,'' said Ernesto Ackerman, president of Independent Venezuelan-American Citizens.
He added: ``Chavez is moving faster every day toward a Castro-style communist government. What's coming is going to be terrible. Venezuelans aren't fleeing economic problems, they are leaving because of persecution. It's not hypothetical anymore that Venezuela will be a communist country -- it's a fact.''
South Florida's Cuban-American Republican lawmakers in Washington agreed that Venezuelan asylum seekers should receive special consideration, given changing political conditions back home.
''This is why it's so important to pass comprehensive immigration reform,'' said Ana Carbonell, Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balart's chief of staff. ``Congressman Díaz-Balart will be strongly advocating for the inclusion of Venezuelans in that reform. At the same time, we continue working on improving the asylum rates of Venezuelans, and we have seen an improvement with higher approval rates.''
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said Democrats may have the last word.
''The House and the Senate are controlled by the Democratic Party, so any efforts to pass such an initiative should be led by a member of Congress from the majority party,'' she said. ``The Venezuelan community in my district is undergoing many difficulties.''
CONTROVERSIAL PLANS
A Venezuelan adjustment law may become more relevant if Chávez launches new controversial programs, including a plan to infuse schools with socialist ideology, said Patricia Andrade of the Venezuela Awareness Foundation.
Thousands of Chavez's ''Bolivarian schools'' already exist, and Venezuela seems poised to create more.
''He's going to copy the Cuban education system and indoctrinate the children,'' Andrade said. ``People are desperate to emigrate [because of this], but they couldn't get asylum because they aren't persecuted.''
Bernardo Alvarez, the Venezuelan ambassador to the United States, took issue with any suggestion Venezuelans are leaving because the government is persecuting them.
''In Venezuela there is no persecution or torture of anyone,'' Alvarez said. ``What there is, is a situation in which Venezuelans are leaving for a multiplicity of reasons and factors -- be they personal, economic or family-related.''
Alvarez noted that opposition leaders leave and return at will. He said that perceptions of Venezuela's ''cooperation'' with Cuba may be behind ``strong pressures in Florida to grant asylum to people who in reality do not qualify.''
Besides seeking asylum, other Venezuelans are resettling here by other means. Many are using visitor or business visas to stay.
Waldo Gutierrez, a Venezuelan computer firm executive in Orlando, got a business visa in 2005 but already is thinking of seeking permanent residence -- which he can legally obtain through his current status.
Asked if his decision to stay was linked to Venezuela's political conditions, Gutierrez, 44, did not hesitate.
''Of course, 100 percent,'' he said. ``I see my country going backward.''
High-profile figures who once held official positions or were prominent in their fields are also seeking asylum.
Gisela Parra, the former president of the country's powerful Judicial Council, fled to the United States in March 2005 after the Venezuelan government issued a detention order against her. She criticized Chávez government reforms that she maintains destroyed the independence of the judiciary.
Chávez eventually accused her of conspiracy, she said.
''They chose a group of people who had a certain respect in the community, and made them examples,'' said Parra, 59, who is now living in Palmetto Bay with her niece's family. She was granted asylum in December.
''People in Venezuela don't know what is coming, but I do know,'' she said. ``My case shows how far the persecution has gone in Venezuela.''