Mexican journalists seek simpler political asylum in US
Periodismo para periodistas reports on how a group of Mexican journalists have united with immigration lawyers to simplify the process of seeking political asylum in the US. The journalists have the peculiarity of having been threatened to death in Ciudad Juarez, a city in the north of Mexico. Not only do they suffer from being separated from their own families, but the journalists also risk being put in a detention center in the US once their tourist visas expire and if they do not obtain political asylum.
One of the journalists, Jorge Luis Aguirre, recounts how he received a death threat on his cell phone whilst driving to the funeral of a colleague. He immediately parked his car in a public parking and walked in direction of the US border. He also asked friends and family to help him reach the border safely. Aguirre recounts how much he feared he would not reach the border alive. Luckily, Aguirre managed to enter the US and is now workin from El Paso, Texas.
Reporters Without Borders and non-lucrative group Las Americas have joined the initiative to facilitate political asylum of Mexican journalists in the US.
