I know a special ed teacher from South Sudan whose family made multiple attempts to escape and finally did when she was 12. Made it to the US, initially in the Houston area, after a harrowing journey and some NGO assistance. After listening to the stories she has relayed to me, her family's ordeal would, I believe, qualify under the original intent of the asylum immigration policy.... not to be confused with the policy as currently being used by Brandon (et al) to import future voters plus electoral population gerrymandering.
A lot of hogwash has been distributed about the "Lost Boys" of Sudan/South Sudan.. so you have to be careful about what you read, who wrote it, and try to figure out why they wrote it, what they were trying to get at, etc.. before you accept it as truth or valid...
but, that said, what is undeniable is how incredibly well many of the "lost" did once they got to the US (as well as many places in Europe) despite the odds being outrageously set against them..
One particular lost boy that I had the pleasure to spend a good bit of time with around the 2010 time frame had busted his butt and worked his way through college for a decade while picking up a PhD and was teaching as a tenured professor in a western US university when South Sudan obtained its independence...
As soon as South Sudan was established as a nation, he gave up his very comfortable job and associated high level of income, and got on a plane to return "home" (somewhere he had not seen since he was about 10 years old)..
He was a senior member of the civilian corps attached to the SPLA when I met him, whose responsibility was to establish formal training and educational programs that would help the SPLA transition from the guerilla fighting force they had been for almost 50 years into a more modern East African formal military organization.. he gave up a 2500 square foot house, a tenured position at a major university, and all of the safety and security of living in the US, along with all of the accoutrements that come with living here (access to world class healthcare... good roads... the ability to go see a concert.. or eat at a number of wonderful restaurants, etc).. and was now living in about a 200sq foot tukal hut (dirt floors, mud walls, thatch roof, etc)... without indoor plumbing.. cooking over a little propane stove... hitching rides to work each day (no car), etc..etc.. and was making less in a year than his monthly salary when he was in the US.... and was genuinely both happy and proud to be doing it... he was part of establishing what at the time was the worlds newest nation.. he was playing a key role in building the future of his nation...
and there were a whole lot more out there much like him...
we as a people could learn a lot from several of the Lost Boys about what it means to be not just a good human being, but a good citizen, and someone worthy of their nations trust and honor...
thats not to say all the Lost Boys did well... there are just as many stories of tragedy and despair...
but Ive always been amazed at what I think has been a disproportionate number of great human beings, most of whom will never be recognized for who and what they became.. that came from that small group of people...