Asylum-seekers desperate for U.S. protection

Limited options
Gutierrez, a 45-year-old reporter in Ascension, Mexico, said he received death threats nearly every day for more than two years as he wrote stories about the Mexican army's rough treatment of civilians in its search for drug cartel members. He said that in June, men identifying themselves as soldiers ransacked his house, and he was told they were planning to kill him.

Gutierrez headed with his 15-year-old son to a border crossing in New Mexico, about 170 miles (275 kilometers) west of El Paso. Now he is jailed at a U.S. immigration detention center in El Paso. His son is held in a separate institution.

Spector said Gutierrez may have a strong case if he can prove that the Mexican army threatened him and is likely to kill him.

There are other legal ways to immigrate to the United States. But obtaining a visa can take several months. Many of those asking for asylum show up instead at a border crossing and announce their intentions, upon which they are immediately brought over into the U.S. — and placed in a detention center with no chance of bail.

In contrast, those who sneak across the border, get caught and then ask for asylum are allowed out on bail. "They get more if they come in illegally than by doing it right," Spector said.

Those seeking asylum also include Salvador Hernandez Arvizu, a police lieutenant in Juarez who was named on a cartel hit list and fled after being shot repeatedly in an ambush earlier this year, said his lawyer, Spector.

Spector said his clients know the odds are against them. But still, leaving Mexico for at least a few months is worth it, he said.

"They don't have many options and these cases are life and death," the lawyer said. "Sometimes in immigration law, you get paid to lose slowly."

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