Mexican Journalists Flee Drug War, Seek Asylum
…over the past four years, the U.S. government has been more receptive to Mexicans who can prove a well-founded fear of persecution from drug cartels, the government or both.
Figures from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services show that in 2007, asylum officers recommended 58 Mexican cases for approval; already, by the third quarter of this year, they have recommended 176.
Carlos Spector, an El Paso immigration attorney, says he thinks Aguirre’s case is encouraging news.
“We were all waiting for the first case because so many cases have been presented,” he said. “And I think there was a learning curve going on that they just weren’t believing the tragedies and the chaos and the repression in Mexico.
“Finally they’ve come to realize that there is a major problem in Mexico.”