American asylum seeker getting £400 a month from UK government - as mother lives in $500,000 Vegas home
Benefits have been paid to a US asylum seeker who has remained in the UK for more than a year after a court ruled his case was “clearly unfounded”.
Olabode Shoniregun, 27, from Las Vegas, applied for asylum in October 2024. He claimed he faced persecution in the US because he is black, Jewish and a Mormon.
After months in taxpayer-funded accommodation at a Holiday Inn in Wembley, the Home Office rejected his application in June 2025. The refusal letter told him he must leave the UK and said he had no right of appeal, because his protection and human rights claims were certified as clearly unfounded under immigration law.
Despite this, Shoniregun was later moved into social housing and began receiving benefits. Authorities opened a bank account for him, and he was paid about £400.19 a month for living costs through Islington Council and St Stephen’s Church in Canonbury.
In November, he was removed from the property after behaving aggressively towards staff, an incident that led to police being called.
Home Office officials located him on December 10 and offered him a place on the voluntary returns scheme, including £1,500 and a flight back to Las Vegas, where his mother lives in a gated community in a property valued at about $500,000.
A week later, airline staff at Heathrow ruled him unfit to fly. After handing over his passport, he was left stranded in the UK.
Shoniregun said he fled the US after being sexually assaulted by police officers and claimed he would be in danger if he returned.
He said: “I have chosen to come back to the United Kingdom because I want humanitarian protection from violent homosexuality.
“I don’t mind going back to the United States to visit, then come back here. I just don’t want to be deported out of the United Kingdom into the United States.”
He alleged repeated abuse by police forces in several US cities, including Las Vegas, Boston, Reno and locations in Florida. He also said he would be willing to return to the US to visit but did not want to be deported.
After further failed attempts to fly home, he returned to Islington and was treated as homeless. He was later expelled from a St Mungo’s shelter following another confrontation and placed in a Premier Inn at public expense, where police were again called.
On social media, he has shared videos of his life in London, including eating at McDonald’s, using computers at Islington library and socialising. His account has since been set to private.
Speaking to the Telegraph, he said: “The taxpayers are paying for me to be here, and I want to say thank you,
“I’ve been born in the United Kingdom, so I think it’s crazy for me not to receive some kind of benefit. I don’t think that £400 is a lot of cash.
“I deserve that and more.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The airline deemed Shoniregun unfit to fly. We are working to remove him as soon as possible.”