IMMIGRATION/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LEGAL: “A Mexican journalist who sought refuge in the United States amid death threats almost a decade ago now faces deportation in a case drawing criticism from immigration and journalism advocates.
The case is a high-profile example of the years it can take for asylum claims to wind through the country’s backlogged immigration court system, compounded by appeals and the challenge of claiming refuge from countries that are U.S. allies.
Emilio Gutierrez Soto, 54, says he and his 24-year-old son Oscar Gutierrez Soto will be killed if they return to Mexico.
The pair were recently denied asylum and arrested after an initial appeal was rejected on technical grounds.
The Justice Department temporarily blocked their deportation while an appeal is being decided.
Mr. Gutierrez said in a recent interview from a West Texas immigration jail that he plans to fight until all appeals are exhausted…
Kathy Kiely, a press freedom fellow for the National Press Club’s Journalism Institute, said the U.S. government appears to be ignoring ongoing threats to journalists in Mexico…
At least 11 journalists have been killed in Mexico this year, according to Reporters Without Borders, an international freedom of information organization that also tracks threats to journalists.”
-Alicia A. Caldwell, “Mexican Journalist Faces Deportation After Fleeing to U.S. Amid Death Threats,” The Wall Street Journal online, Jan. 3, 2018 05:30am