Since 2019, I have undertaken high-risk research into the homophobia, xenophobia, transphobia, and gender-based violence experienced by Venezuelan LGBTQ+ asylum seekers, refugees and undocumented migrants in the unstable border cities of Pacaraima, Boa Vista, and Manaus in Brazil and Cúcuta in Colombia. I have also visited Brasilia and Bogota to speak with government officials.

My work is based on over 200 surveys and nearly 100 interviews with displaced Venezuelans, activists, humanitarian organizations, and government officials. As one of the first scholars to focus on LGBTQ+ Venezuelan displacement, my findings have directly shaped regional and international policy. My research has been cited by R4V—the main coordination platform guiding refugee and migrant responses across 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and nearly 200 organizations worldwide—as well as by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

My work has informed investigations in the Brazilian Parliament into the treatment of Venezuelan refugees during the COVID-19 pandemic, including women, children, and LGBTQ+ people. I have also briefed UN agencies, national refugee authorities, the Brazilian military, and senior political leaders, including the President of Guyana and Canada’s Ambassador to Brazil.

Through peer-reviewed publications, policy briefings, and public lectures, my research continues to shape how governments and international organizations understand and respond to the Venezuelan refugee crisis.

As a result of my expertise, I am frequently asked to write expert reports and act as an expert witness in asylum hearings. To date, I have assisted over 10 LGBTQ+ Venezuelan asylum seekers, and I am happy to report that my testimony and expertise have helped four of them obtain refugee status in the United States. But even more important than that is their ability to live authentic and dignified lives - free of persecution.