This is the AP news release: APNewsBreak: Expelled Venezuela diplomat stays in US. The meat:
Jarlet Sanchez, a career diplomat who had been serving as Venezuela’s deputy consul general in Houston, was declared persona non grata May 23 in retaliation for Maduro’s decision to kick out charge d’affaires Todd Robinson in the immediate aftermath of his re-election.
But a U.S. official and another individual familiar with the case said Sanchez has yet to depart. The two people spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss it publicly.
Foreign diplomats in the U.S. who don’t abide by orders to leave can be forcibly expelled, according to longstanding legal opinion of the U.S. Justice Department.
But The Associated Press has learned that Sanchez is hoping to stay in the United States permanently by applying for a green card under an obscure provision in the Immigration and Nationality Act. That provision, known as Section 13, says that people who enter the U.S. as diplomats can apply for a change in their immigration status and, if it is granted, obtain permanent residency.
Overstaying one's welcome is a tradition among visitors.
Trump is probably not inclined to favor an open door to Venezuelans wanting refugee status. And it's certain the Obama administration wouldn't want to do anything that might imply socialism results in anything less than utopia. So it will be interesting to watch.
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1:09 PM 6/7/2018
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