A Texas lawyer is among those trying to broaden the definition of asylum, dismaying conservative critics and some Mexican officials.
By Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times
October 28, 2012
EL PASO — One of his clients, a Mexican waitress and widowed mother of three, says she played dead under a pile of bodies to survive a massacre in Ciudad Juarez led by men she recognized as federal police.
Another client says Chihuahua state police hacked off his feet after he refused to pay them bribes.
They came to El Paso seeking Carlos Spector, 58, a burly, hard-charging immigration attorney who has developed a strange specialty in this Texas border city. His clients, instead of crossing into the United States illegally and hiding out, are seeking asylum.
To the dismay of conservative critics in the U.S. who call asylum seekers "narco refugees" and some officials in Mexico who call them "traitors," Spector has been trying to broaden the definition of asylum, a status granted to those fleeing persecution in their home countries. He calls them "exiles."
Compared with those fleeing other countries, relatively few Mexicans have been granted asylum. Still, the number of applications has risen rapidly and reflects, Spector says, the collapse of order in parts of Mexico. Read more.
The MexicoBlog of the Americas Program, a fiscally sponsored program of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), is written by Laura Carlsen. I monitor and analyze international press on Mexico, with a focus on security, immigration, human rights and social movements for peace and justice, from a feminist perspective. And sometimes I simply muse.
Showing posts with label mexico asylum seekers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mexico asylum seekers. Show all posts
Jul 3, 2012
Mexico Drug War Refugees Face Long Odds for Asylum
Mexicans seeking asylum in the United States, often from drug-related violence, are rarely approved, and the period of waiting for approval can range from months to years, all the while frustrating and confusing applicants who struggle in poverty.
Fox News Latino: PASO, TEXAS – José Alberto Holguín once had a lucrative bus company in Ciudad Juárez where he and his family lived comfortably.
The pride of developing a business disappeared when thugs from La Línea, the street enforcers of the Juárez Cartel, began extorting a weekly payment from him in 2008 that amounted to 40 percent of his revenue, then murdered his son and threatened his family.
“The guys from La Línea have federal and local connections,” he said. “We had to leave.”
The 50-year-old, who is married and has three children, knew it was no longer safe to stay in Mexico, so he and his family sought political asylum protection across the border. Read more.
Fox News Latino: PASO, TEXAS – José Alberto Holguín once had a lucrative bus company in Ciudad Juárez where he and his family lived comfortably.
The pride of developing a business disappeared when thugs from La Línea, the street enforcers of the Juárez Cartel, began extorting a weekly payment from him in 2008 that amounted to 40 percent of his revenue, then murdered his son and threatened his family.
“The guys from La Línea have federal and local connections,” he said. “We had to leave.”
The 50-year-old, who is married and has three children, knew it was no longer safe to stay in Mexico, so he and his family sought political asylum protection across the border. Read more.
Oct 17, 2011
Mexico Drug War: "Narco-Refugees": The Looming Challenge for U.S. National Security
From the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
Strategic Studies Institute: "Since 2006, when Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared war on the drug cartels, there has been a rise in the number of Mexican nationals seeking political asylum in the United States to escape the ongoing drug cartel violence in their home country. Political asylum cases in general are claimed by those who are targeted for their political beliefs or ethnicity in countries that are repressive or are failing. Mexico is neither. Nonetheless, if the health of the Mexican state declines because criminal violence continues, increases, or spreads, U.S. communities will feel an even greater burden on their systems of public safety and public health from "narco-refugees." " read more
Strategic Studies Institute: "Since 2006, when Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared war on the drug cartels, there has been a rise in the number of Mexican nationals seeking political asylum in the United States to escape the ongoing drug cartel violence in their home country. Political asylum cases in general are claimed by those who are targeted for their political beliefs or ethnicity in countries that are repressive or are failing. Mexico is neither. Nonetheless, if the health of the Mexican state declines because criminal violence continues, increases, or spreads, U.S. communities will feel an even greater burden on their systems of public safety and public health from "narco-refugees." " read more
Mexico Drug War: Violence Forces Narco-Refugees into US
A summary of the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute report, with additional information on the refugee flight from Mexico.
InSight Crime: "Violence driven by organized crime in Mexico and Central America has forced thousands from their homes, with some fleeing over international borders, though the situation has not reached anything like the level of displacement seen in Colombia.
The increase in Mexican "narco-refugees" is the subject of a new report from the Strategic Studies Institute, an academic offshoot of the U.S. Army. As author Paul Rexton Kan argues, the rising number of Mexicans seeking asylum reflects a rapidly changing environment in Mexico, and has the potential to create a serious set of headaches for U.S. policy-makers." read more
InSight Crime: "Violence driven by organized crime in Mexico and Central America has forced thousands from their homes, with some fleeing over international borders, though the situation has not reached anything like the level of displacement seen in Colombia.
The increase in Mexican "narco-refugees" is the subject of a new report from the Strategic Studies Institute, an academic offshoot of the U.S. Army. As author Paul Rexton Kan argues, the rising number of Mexicans seeking asylum reflects a rapidly changing environment in Mexico, and has the potential to create a serious set of headaches for U.S. policy-makers." read more
Sep 16, 2011
Mexico Drug War - Collateral Damage: Mexican Drug War Sends Flood of Asylum-Seekers to U.S.
International Business Times: "The number of Mexicans seeking asylum in the United States has steadily increased since 2006, when September 2006-elected Mexican President Felipe Calderon launched an aggressive war on drug cartels.
To qualify for asylum, an immigrant must prove a "credible fear of persecution or torture," according to United States Immigration Customs and Enforcement. As Mexico has spiralled into a bloody cycle of police raids on drug dealers and violent reprisals, more Mexicans have arrived in the United States and argued to immigration authorities that they would face torture or death if they returned home. In all, 3,231 Mexicans filed for asylum last year, up from 2,670 in 2005."
To qualify for asylum, an immigrant must prove a "credible fear of persecution or torture," according to United States Immigration Customs and Enforcement. As Mexico has spiralled into a bloody cycle of police raids on drug dealers and violent reprisals, more Mexicans have arrived in the United States and argued to immigration authorities that they would face torture or death if they returned home. In all, 3,231 Mexicans filed for asylum last year, up from 2,670 in 2005."
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