A Rising Number of Mexicans Are Seeking Asylum in the United States Sandra Dibble - U-T San Diego
go to original March 13, 2014

By the time he showed up at the San Ysidro Port of Entry with 10 family members, the 50-year-old farmer from Mexico’s Guerrero state said two of his sons, both in the military and in their early 20s, had been killed, and his 14-year-daughter had been abducted and raped. He and his family no longer felt safe in Mexico, he said, and hoped for asylum in the United States.

Their arrival more than a year and a half ago is part of a surge in asylum applicants at the border who say they fear for their safety at home. The arrivals have put new pressures on a system already plagued with backlogs and allegations that many fraudulent applications go undetected.

This week at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry, the orchestrated arrival of close to 40 mostly Mexican-born asylum applicants protesting U.S. immigration policy added a new twist to an increasingly sensitive political debate.

Mexican asylum requests are a relatively recent phenomenon, and have been a touchy subject on both sides of the border; only a very small percentage of requests are granted.

Read the rest at U-T San Diego

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