US Asylum Seeker Receives Thousands in UK Benefits Despite Rejected Claim

AN ASYLUM seeker from the US living in the UK is being handed thousands in benefits despite his claim being rejected. Olabode Shoniregun arrived at Gatwick Airport from Las Vegas on a US passport in October 2024 after claiming he was being persecuted. The 27-year-old claims he fled America as he was discriminated against for being black, Jewish and Mormon by both the authorities and employers, reports The Telegraph. He had been housed in a string of migrant hotels before his claim was rejected last year but remained in the country and granted housing and benefits to the tune of £400 a month until recently. He said he applied for asylum in the UK because he was born in Whittington Hospital in Islington and hoped to “start life, get some housing, get a job that pays me cash.” Shoniregun’s mother is from Grenada and his father from Nigeria and he is is not seen as an automatic British citizen under UK immigration laws. He said: “I’ve been born in the United Kingdom, so I think that it’s crazy for me not to receive some kind of benefit. So I’m not too surprised. And I don’t think that £400 is a lot of cash. I deserve that and more, in my opinion.” He is now sleeping rough outside a McDonald’s in North London as well as in the City and has taken to social media to share his story since he arrived. In an interview with The Telegraph, he said he wanted “humanitarian protection from violent homosexuality” feeling he would be endangering himself if he returned. He claimed he fled the US after he was sexually assaulted by law enforcement and that he is “constantly under threat” by authorities in the US. Despite this, he says he would still be comfortable returning to America to “visit”. Shoniregun was informed his asylum application had been refused last June after he was housed at a Holiday Inn in North London. The Home Office letter said he “must now leave the United Kingdom” and he did “not have a right to appeal against this decision”. But shortly after his eviction from the hotel, it’s claimed he was still offered social housing and benefits by Islington Council. Fast forward to November 2025 and Shoniregun was reportedly booted from his housing after allegedly behaving aggressively toward staff. Despite involvement from the police, he was still not reported as being in the UK illegally to Border Force. University graduate Shoniregun refers to himself as a “self-employed investor” and moved to America with his mother when he was five-years-old. When he returned to the UK in 2024 he reportedly claimed he was from Grenada and his asylum application reportedly did not mention he had been born in the UK. He added that he was also discriminated against by his family for being both Jewish and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints despite affectionately speaking of his parents on social media. But in a letter from UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) seen by The Telegraph, he was told that America’s laws protected him from such discrimination. As a result, he was told he would be “removed” if he didn’t leave the UK. When Shoniregun ran into Border Force last month, he filmed himself signing an agreement to the voluntary returns scheme which included eligibility for a £1,500 return flight to Las Vegas. But upon turning up at Heathrow a week later, the airline said he was unfit to fly and he remained in the country. Following successive failed attempts to return to America he was then deemed homeless in Islington. Shoniregun was then placed in a Premier Inn at the council’s expense after he was removed from a St Mungo’s shelter for the homeless. He has since said he didn’t want to return but doesn’t “have another choice”. “So I have to go through the voluntary return pathway, but it seems the process isn’t working,” he added. The Sun has reached out to Islington Council for comment.