charmander

Basic dictionary definition; asylee vs refugee. refugees apply at embassies, asylum seekers apply while they are already here. Some official numbers from USCIS https://www.dhs.gov/immigration-statistics/refugees-asylees 2016 report https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/Refugees_Asylees_2016_0.pdf Basically US accepts significantly higher number of refugees (85K) than granting asylums (12K). Top countries for 2016: refugees came from Congo, Burma, Syria, and Iraq around 10-15K each; whereas asylums granted to El Salvador, Guatemala, and China around 1300-1400 each. Here are some numbers from currently pending asylum cases (March 2018) https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Outreach/Notes from Previous Engagements/PED_AsylumOfficeWorkloadMarch2018.pdf Currently over 300K asylum applications still pending. That's a lot of people to fit in the 12K green cards/year.

PISA 2015 report on Massachusetts. https://www.oecd.org/pisa/PISA-2015-United-States-MA.pdf

I've been to San Francisco for four or five times since 2006. My last visit was for a conference in Feb '16 for two days. Conference venue was near Union Sq, I also stayed in downtown. I noticed a big change in number of homeless as well. We were having lunch at a small restaurant and a homeless dude came in and asked for money from each table. He definitely looked like he was on something. God knows if he was carrying a knife or anything else. I've never had an experience like that in the US. Felt very uncomfortable. I was surprised restaurant owners were indifferent, no one asked him to leave. Maybe they were also scared to say something. I was back at the valley April '17. Didn't go to SF, stayed near Sunnyvale-Mountain View area. I didn't notice any homeless there. Maybe it's just a downtown SF problem.