Sam Kelly

5 days ago | houstonchronicle.com | Sam Kelly

Attorneys for a Venezuelan man who came to Texas as a refugee last year and was later deported to El Salvador have sued the federal government for his safe return. Widmer Josneyder Agelviz Sanguino, 24, traveled to Texas last September after applying for refugee status through the United Nations Refugee Resettlement Program and passing a vetting process that included multiple background checks and interviews with U.S. consular officials. He had no criminal history.

6 days ago | houstonchronicle.com | Sam Kelly

In his interview with the customs officer at Bush Airport, Agelviz Sanguino said he feared returning to Venezuela, so he was placed in expedited removal proceedings and taken to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Conroe to await his interview with an asylum officer. His mother and younger brothers, whose refugee status was confirmed without issue, waited for him at the airport for over 12 hours.

1 week ago | houstonchronicle.com | Sam Kelly

The Trump administration is offering immigrants living in the United States illegally $1,000 to move back to their homelands, but immigration experts caution that accepting the offer could have long-term consequences if they ever hope to reenter the country legally. The Department of Homeland Security announced Monday that immigrants who used the CBP Home app to "self-deport" would receive a $1,000 stipend once their return to their home country had been confirmed through the app.

1 week ago | houstonchronicle.com | Sam Kelly

Potential labor shortage in TexasDemographers across the state agree that Texas is likely to see a significant decline in international migration over the course of Trump’s presidency. While most believe that previous levels of immigration were unsustainable, they also say a sudden drop could harm the state’s economy.

2 weeks ago | houstonchronicle.com | Sam Kelly

Fifty years ago, the North Vietnamese military toppled the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon, effectively ending the Vietnam War and sparking a mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of refugees to the United States. Many of those refugees ended up settling in Houston, laying the foundation for one of the country's most prominent Vietnamese communities. Here's what to know about Houston's Vietnamese population and the challenges refugees faced moving here.