Only 1.6 percent of Mexicans seeking political asylum are accepted by U.S. courts

EL PASO — Only 1.6 percent of Mexicans seeking political asylum in the United States have been approved in the last five years, while the national approval rate during this same time for all asylum requests was 49.4 percent. Approval rates for asylum cases vary by district and according to national statistics two of six immigration judges in El Paso have among the lowest asylum approval rates in the nation.  Judge William L. Abbott denied asylum requests to 80.1 percent of applicants and Judge Thomas C. Roepke’s denial rate is 96.3 percent. The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a nonpartisan center based at Syracuse University, tracks the enforcement activities of the federal government. TRAC analyzed the decisions of 273 immigration judges that have ruled in at least 100 political asylum cases in the last five years.

Immigration judges in Minnesota face a 3,000 case backlog

By Mark Brunswick and Alejandra Matos

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — The realities of an immigration system under siege came walking one by one, in handcuffs and prison flip-flops, into the Bloomington courtroom of Judge William J. Nickerson. In a windowless chamber with mismatched chairs and worn wood paneling, Nickerson, one of three U.S. Immigration Court judges in Minnesota, heard case after case of people from Mexico to Micronesia detained for violating U.S. immigration laws. Their appearances put faces to lives caught up in one of the country’s 59 overwhelmed immigration courts. Intensifying enforcement has built such a backlog that an immigration case first heard in Minnesota today likely would take until next year or longer — an average of 400 days — to settle. Even with regulations intended to speed justice, undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers wait in the community or languish in jail to find out if they will be deported.

Las prótesis de Carlos han estado raspando su piel, provocando dolorosas quemaduras. (Jacqueline Armendariz Reynolds/Borderzine.com)

Mexicanos en Exilio – Día 4 de pedalear por la paz y justicia – 322 kilómetros a Marfa

Nota del editor – En el 2011, un grupo de narcotraficantes en el estado de Chihuahua comenzó a extorsionar a Carlos Gutiérrez por la cantidad mensual de 10 mil dólares.  Al verse incapaz de cumplir, Gutiérrez fue atacado. El 30 de septiembre del mismo año, hombres armados le laceraron ambas piernas dejándolo por muerto. Gutiérrez junto con otros individuos que, al igual que él buscan refugio, forman parte del grupo “Mexicanos en Exilio” han organizado un recorrido en bicicleta desde El Paso hasta Austin en contra de la violencia y la corrupción en México con el propósito no solo de educar al pueblo norteamericano, si no también de educar a los líderes políticos. Todos nos estamos sintiendo un poco estresados. Las prótesis de Carlos han estado raspando su piel, provocando dolorosas quemaduras.

Joe conduce una van Dodge azul de 1990 y hace paradas cada cinco millas para asegurarse que los ciclistas del equipo tengan suficiente comida, agua y medicamentos. (Jacqueline Armendariz Reynolds/Borderzine.com)

Day four – Mexicanos en Exilio – pedaling for peace and justice 200 miles to Marfa

Editor’s Note – Carlos Gutierrez fled Mexico in 2011 after criminals cut off his legs for refusing to pay extortion fees. His goal now in a 13-day 701-mile bicycle trip from El Paso to Austin sponsored by Mexicanos en Exilio is to raise awareness of the continuing violence and corruption in Mexico. We’re all feeling pretty stressed today. Carlos’ prosthetics have been rubbing against his skin causing painful contact burns. The press were calling non-stop, and our Internet access is spotty at best.

(Jacqueline Armendariz Reynolds/Borderzine.com)

Día cuatro – Mexicanos en Exilio – pedaleando por la paz y justicia en medio de la nada

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Nota del editor – En el 2011, un grupo de narcotraficantes en el estado de Chihuahua comenzó a extorsionar a Carlos Gutiérrez por la cantidad mensual de 10 mil dólares.  Al verse incapaz de cumplir, Gutiérrez fue atacado. El 30 de septiembre del mismo año, hombres armados le laceraron ambas piernas dejándolo por muerto. Gutiérrez junto con otros individuos que, al igual que él buscan refugio, forman parte del grupo “Mexicanos en Exilio” han organizado un recorrido en bicicleta desde El Paso hasta Austin en contra de la violencia y la corrupción en México con el propósito no solo de educar al pueblo norteamericano, si no también de educar a los líderes políticos. Estamos en medio de la nada. No estábamos preparados para el silencio y desolación del desierto.

(Jacqueline Armendariz Reynolds/Borderzine.com)

Day four – Mexicanos en Exilio – pedaling for peace and justice in the middle of nowhere

Lea esta historia en español

Editor’s Note – Carlos Gutierrez fled Mexico in 2011 after criminals cut off his legs for refusing to pay extortion fees. His goal now in a 13-day 701-mile bicycle trip from El Paso to Austin sponsored by Mexicanos en Exilio is to raise awareness of the continuing violence and corruption in Mexico. We weren’t quite prepared for the quiet and desolation of the desert. My phone is not working and neither is the internet. We are sending this from an IPAD that only seems to work in spurts.

Día 2 de Pedaleando por la justicia. (Jacqueline Armendariz Reynolds/Borderzine.com)

Día 2 – Mexicanos en Exilio – desde Fort Hancock a Van Horn, 201 kilómetros pedaleando por la paz y la justicia

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Nota del editor – En el 2011, un grupo de narcotraficantes en el estado de Chihuahua comenzó a extorsionar a Carlos Gutiérrez por la cantidad mensual de 10 mil dólares.  Al verse incapaz de cumplir, Gutiérrez fue atacado. El 30 de septiembre del mismo año, hombres armados le laceraron ambas piernas dejándolo por muerto. Gutiérrez junto con otros individuos que, al igual que él buscan refugio, forman parte del grupo “Mexicanos en Exilio” han organizado un recorrido en bicicleta desde El Paso hasta Austin en contra de la violencia y la corrupción en México con el propósito no solo de educar al pueblo norteamericano, si no también de educar a los líderes políticos. 

El timbre del teléfono nos despierta a las 6 de la mañana, sacándonos de camas calientes que aun no queremos dejar. Era la prensa queriendo una entrevista, alguien calentó café, el espejismo de una cuidad nos guiñó desde el horizonte. La entrevista tomó mas de lo previsto, el sol empezó a salir desde las montañas, el aire ya no se sentía tan frío… íbamos tarde.

Gutierrez rie cuando sugerimos que pare. (Jacqueline Armendariz Reynolds/Borderzine.com

Day two – Mexicanos en Exilio – pedaling 125 miles for peace and justice from Fort Hancock to Van Horn

Lea esta historia es español

Editor’s Note – Carlos Gutierrez fled Mexico in 2011 after criminals cut off his legs for refusing to pay extortion fees. His goal now in a 13-day 701-mile bicycle trip from El Paso to Austin sponsored by Mexicanos en Exilio is to raise awareness of the continuing violence and corruption in Mexico. The phone rang at 6 a.m.  forcing us out of warm beds that we weren’t quite ready to leave. It was the press calling, coffee was being brewed on an electric skillet; it was still dark, a mirage city winked at us from the horizon. The interviews took longer than expected, the sun peaked from behind the mountains, the air warmed and we were behind schedule.

Carlos Gutierrez dando declaraciones antes de la partida oficial. (Alejandra Spector/Borderzine.com)

Primer día: de El Paso a Fort Hancock – 92 kilómetros de pedalear por la paz y justicia

Read this story in English

Nota del editor – En el 2011, un grupo de narcotraficantes en el estado de Chihuahua comenzó a extorsionar a Carlos Gutiérrez por la cantidad mensual de 10 mil dólares.  Al verse incapaz de cumplir, Gutiérrez fue atacado. El 30 de septiembre del mismo año, hombres armados le laceraron ambas piernas dejándolo por muerto. Gutiérrez junto con otros individuos que, al igual que él buscan refugio, forman parte del grupo “Mexicanos en Exilio” han organizado un recorrido en bicicleta desde El Paso hasta Austin en contra de la violencia y la corrupción en México con el propósito no solo de educar al pueblo norteamericano, si no también de educar a los líderes políticos. 

Hoy madrugamos y nadie había descansado mucho la noche anterior, aunque sabíamos que iba ser un día  muy largo, una combinación de nervios y preparaciones del ultimo momento. Llegamos a Lincoln Park en El Paso, Texas temblando en el aire árido y frío de otoño que sopla por el desierto chihuahuense. Univisión Miami ya había llegado, arreglando bicis, preparando sus cámaras y micrófonos, una reportera pintaba su cara en preparación de la historia que iba salir.

Day one – Mexicanos en Exilio – pedaling 57 miles for peace and justice from El Paso to Fort Hancock

Lea esta historia en español

Editor’s Note – Carlos Gutierrez fled Mexico in 2011 after criminals cut off his legs for refusing to pay extortion fees. His goal now in a 13-day 701-mile bicycle trip from El Paso to Austin sponsored by Mexicanos en Exilio is to raise awareness of the continuing violence and corruption in Mexico. Our day began early, but none of us had gotten much sleep due to the combination of last minute preparations and nerves. We arrived at Lincoln Park in El Paso shivering in the cold, dry air that blows over the Chihuahuan Desert in the fall. Univision Miami had already arrived and were setting up, checking bikes, mics, cameras, prepping make-up for the big story that was about to air.  A few weeks ago, Carlos Gutierrez had been rolling burritos at a local Mexican restaurant and now we were surrounded by media and fans.

Bianey Reyes was granted asylum in the U.S. this summer after a three-year-wait. (Luis Hernández/Borderzine.com)

Teenage asylee from Juarez speaks out about the murders of her family members

“They never did any harm to anyone and still they continued to kill them… For those of us left we continue to struggle and ask for justice.”

EL PASO – Bianey Reyes, 18, nervously pats down the wrinkles in her light-blue t-shirt. She searches for the courage to look up from the floor and her Converse shoes, then raises her head high and sets her brown eyes on a room filled with 20 visiting journalists. In a quiet, restrained voice, she begins to describe the kidnapping of various members of her family, and the murders of her father, uncles, aunts, and cousins by suspected members of the Mexican military in el Valle de Juarez over the last five years. “In all of these events that happened to my family, the military was always involved and they have yet to arrest anyone responsible for the murders,” said Reyes, who attends El Paso Community College and was granted asylum in the U.S. this summer after a three-year wait. Reyes testimony at a recent immigration reporting workshop at the University of Texas at El Paso marks the first time she has gone public with her ordeal.

The streets of Veracruz, Mexico. (©Miguel Angel Lopez Velasco)

Mexicans pay in blood for America’s war on drugs

By Molly Molloy and Charles Bowden

EL PASO – Children play in the pool, hamburgers and hot dogs sizzle on the grill. The exiles will be here shortly after their year in flight from a house full of dead people. Everyone at the party has dead people murdered in Mexico by the Mexican government with the silent consent of the U.S. government. There are 100,000 slaughtered Mexicans now. These gatherings will grow larger.

(Raymundo Aguirre/Borderzine.com)

More Mexicans requesting asylum

The Atlanta Journal Constitution

Editor’s Note: Nicole Chavez, a UTEP multimedia journlaism major, is completing  an internship this summer with the Atlanta Journal Constitution. In the year since Georgia passed a law to discourage illegal immigration, the number of asylum applications filed by Mexicans in Atlanta’s immigration court has increased four-fold. A few applicants have personal experience of Mexico’s drug-fueled violence. Many others have not been touched by the bloodshed but are using it as grounds to argue that they should not be deported to Mexico – a novel legal strategy that seeks to alter existing law. And in some cases, immigrants’ attorneys may be filing asylum claims purely as a last-ditch delaying tactic.