A Dutch court has upheld a ruling denying a transgender woman’s asylum application in the United States, finding that she did not face a sufficient threat of persecution in her home country.
Veronica Clifford Carlos, a 28-year-old visual artist from California, said she once believed she would build a life in the United States, but after receiving death threats because of her gender identity, she felt forced to flee.
Clifford Carlos left the United States, leaving behind a friend and his dog, and flew to the Netherlands with his father. After arriving, she applied for asylum and told authorities about the mistreatment she suffered in the United States, particularly after President Donald Trump’s reelection last fall.
“There are people shouting abuse at me on the street,” she previously said. Reuters. “There are people who threaten my life, who assault me, who threaten to follow me home and kill my family.”
Since returning to office, President Trump has issued several executive orders restricting transgender rights, calling for the rollback of transgender-inclusive nondiscrimination policies and anti-bias training, and refusing to recognize transgender identity as valid.
Clifford Carlos argues that these policies are worsening the lives of transgender people in the United States, and said the thought of returning to his country makes him “more scared than I’ve ever been in my life.”
Earlier this year, the Netherlands, long seen as a champion of LGBTQ rights, updated its travel advisory to the United States, warning LGBTQ travelers about recent American laws and State Department policies where something as simple as a gender mark on a passport that does not match the gender assigned at birth can lead to detention or a permanent ban. Still, the United States is still classified as a “safe” country for transgender people, and Clifford Carlos’ asylum request was denied.
With support from the Dutch advocacy group LGBT Asylum Support, which supports 20 other transgender asylum seekers in the Netherlands, Clifford Carlos appealed the decision, arguing that recent anti-transgender sentiment has made it unsafe for him to remain in the United States. NBC News Reported.
According to data from the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND), 29 Americans applied for asylum in the first half of 2025. In previous years, the numbers ranged from nine to 18.
Sandro Cortekaas, head of an LGBT asylum advocacy group, said the U.S. “safe” designation relied on information from before Trump’s second term and that Dutch authorities should allow for a rapid policy shift since Trump returned to power. The group also noted that the IND considers discrimination by authorities or fellow citizens to be “persecution” if it is severe enough to interfere with the victim’s “social or social” functioning.
However, the court found that Ms. Clifford Carlos personally did not face a credible risk of persecution and said she could not prove that she lacked protection or access to essential services, the report said. Reuters. The court also sent her case back to immigration authorities for further review, citing procedural errors that undermined the rationale for the original denial.
Clifford Carlos’ lawyers told Reuters they called the decision “very disappointing” and planned to submit new evidence to immigration authorities to support her asylum claim.
Marlou Schrover, a Dutch economic and social history professor, said: world Dutch courts announced in September that it is unusual for a Dutch court to grant refugee status based solely on LGBTQ identity.
He also pointed out that granting asylum is a political act and that refugee status is often seen as a sharp rebuke of other countries. Dutch immigration authorities may be reluctant to direct this criticism at the United States for fear of retaliation.
Schrover added that Dutch immigration authorities generally believe that U.S. residents can relocate within the country, including to more LGBTQ-friendly states, if they feel unsafe. He also said that America’s anti-transgender policies may never rise to the level of persecution.
“Exclusion from the military or from sports may be unpleasant and frightening, but in the eyes of Dutch immigration authorities, it does not appear to be persecution,” she said.
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
