Life or Death in Political Asylum

Last month, an Immigration Judge in El Paso granted political asylum to a man fleeing from the cartels in Juarez. Eleven members of his family had been executed after refusing to pay the cartel money. Historically, those fleeing Mexican cartels or Central American gangs have had a difficult time establishing their refugee status.  However, we hope this is a sign that immigration judges are becoming more amenable to these refugees. As this case proves, these asylum applications really are a life-or-death proposition for each applicant. We applaud the court for granting asylum and hope that this shows changing attitudes toward Mexican and Central American refugees.