Sitting in a migrant shelter in Guatemala, Francis Osorio is one of nearly eight million Venezuelans who have left their crisis-hit country and are now waiting for an asylum appointment before arriving at the US-Mexico border. Like Osorio, many US-bound migrants have opted to apply for asylum before entering the country, fearing tougher US immigration policies in an election year and the ever-present risk of dying at the hands of human smugglers. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES