Mexican asylum seekers rise in the US
January 25 2010 by Liam Clifford
US immigration authorities report increases at the border and within the country.
The number of Mexicans claiming asylum at the border with the US has risen claims a new report. It is believed the rise is directly attributable to Mexican drug cartels.
The numbers seeking asylum at US borders has increased from 50 in the fiscal year of 2002 to 312 in 2008, this is a rise of 524%, data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services shows.
The numbers at the borders are matched by those within the US where there has also been a sharp rise in people claiming asylum from Mexico. US immigration figures’ state that applications rose in 2006 from 1,410 to 2,144 in 2008, an increase of 50%.
The legal stand-point of many of these cases stands uneasily with normal immigration/asylum guidelines. Cases involving applications for asylum are filed under political, national, religious, ethnic or social persecution that government cannot pertain to control.
The cases of Mexicans fleeing drug cartels raises interesting questions for US immigration authorities, individuals must demonstrate that the Mexican government has lost control over the cartels and that the persecution they face lies within their families stance towards the governments efforts.
The cases being contested at the moment could mean the end of asylum laws as they currently stand and the relaxing of definitions that currently make-up the laws concerning political persecution, say US immigration experts.
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