US trans woman challenging Netherlands asylum rejection was surprised to find she was not alone

By Charlotte Van Campenhout and Bart Biesemans

HEERLEN, Netherlands (Reuters) -Veronica Clifford Carlos, a 28-year-old artist from San Francisco hoping to win political asylum in the Netherlands, says she had always planned to build her life in the U.S. but changed her mind after getting death threats for being trans.

In June Carlos - the first trans American to launch a legal challenge in the Netherlands against the rejection of an application for political asylum, left loved ones, including her dog Lilith, and flew to the Netherlands with her father.

Veronica said life had worsened for trans people during U.S. President Donald Trump's second term.

"I have people screaming f*ggot at me in the street... I have people threatening my life, threatening to assault me, threatening to follow me home and kill my family."

Since taking office in January, Trump has issued executive orders limiting transgender rights and rescinding anti-discrimination policies for LGBTQ+ people.

Earlier this year, the Netherlands - known for its strong protections of LGBT rights - updated its U.S. travel advisory urging LGBTQ+ travelers to be mindful of recent U.S. laws. But the United States is still considered safe and Veronica's asylum request was denied.

For the court to grant Veronica political asylum, she would need to demonstrate that she was denied protection in the U.S., which could be challenging, said Marlou Schrover, a professor at Leiden University, who specializes in migration. 

She added that ruling in Veronica's favour might also sour relations between the U.S. and the Netherlands.    

"If you grant refugee status to somebody from a country, it's also implied criticism on this country. You're saying it's a non-functioning juridical system", Schrover said.

But Sandro Kortekaas from Dutch advocacy group LGBT Asylum Support said the U.S. is being considered safe based on information predating Trump's second term and that the stark differences in trans rights policy should be acknowledged.

Veronica is not the only trans person fleeing the U.S., Kortekaas said. Dutch advocacy group LGBT Asylum Support, which backs the artist's lawsuit, says it is assisting around 20 U.S. trans individuals with pending asylum claims.

Official data show 29 Americans applied for asylum in the first half of this year, without giving the cited grounds. Veronica said she had expected to be the only one.

"It's a bittersweet experience. On one hand, it's very validating to see I'm not going crazy here. I'm not the only person who thinks something's wrong. But on the other hand ... it really has gotten this bad," she said.

A ruling is expected later this year.

(Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout, Bart Biesemans, additional reporting by Tierney Kugel; editing by Philippa Fletcher)