Despite Deaths and Drugs, Asylum in the US Remains a Dream for Most Mexicans Will Coley - WLRN.org
go to original July 22, 2015

Constantino Morales, a former Mexican cop who sought asylum in the US, speaks at a July 2014 community event in Des Moines, Iowa. He lost his asylum case and left for Mexico two months before he could be deported. (Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement)

In June's midterm elections in Mexico, voter turnout was higher than expected. Surveys showed that voters were voicing frustrations with drug cartel violence and corruption. But an increasing number of Mexicans cannot wait for electoral changes to improve their situation. They see leaving as the only option.

One asylum-seeker, Constantino Morales, fled Mexico and settled in Iowa. But once in the US, he was met by a host of new challenges that Mexicans face when it comes to obtaining asylum.

When I met Vanessa Marcano-Kelly, she played a video of Constantino Morales on her cellphone, when they said goodbye for the last time. In the video, Morales thanked everyone who helped him with his legal case.

“Constantino had stepped up to become a community leader because he wanted to share his story and try to make a difference,” she says.

Marcano-Kelly and Morales were friends and worked as community organizers with Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement. Morales came to Iowa from the Mexican state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast. It’s a state with a fair amount of trouble, filled with cartels and corruption. Guerrero is the same state where 43 students disappeared last year. This is where Morales was a cop — a good cop, his family says.

Read the rest at WLRN.org

Related: A Humane Approach Can Work: The Effectiveness of Alternatives to Detention for Asylum Seekers (American Immigration Council)

Related: Mexican Man Leaves Denver Church Sanctuary After Nine Months (The Denver Post)

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