MyUSTINET News: Drug War Has Some Seeking U.S. Asylum

PHOENIX, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- A vicious drug war in Mexico has caused a dramatic increase in the number of Mexicans seeking safety in the United States under U.S. asylum laws, officials say.

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The difficulty for many lies in the high legal standard of asylum, under which applicants must show they belong to a political, religious, ethnic, national or social group persecuted by a government or forces a government can't control, The (Phoenix) Arizona Republic reported Sunday.

Usually this means people fleeing communist regimes, dictatorships or civil wars, the newspaper said.

Mexicans fleeing criminal violence must convince U.S. authorities the Mexican government cannot control the drug cartels and they are being persecuted for the political involvement of their families in the government's efforts to destroy the cartels, the Republic said.

Growing violence since a government war on cartels began in 2006 has killed more than 15,000 people since 2006.

If those who want to escape the violence succeed in winning asylum, that could widen the boundaries of U.S. asylum law by loosening the definition of what constitutes political persecution, experts say.

"I think you are likely to see more (asylum seekers), and we are already seeing significant numbers", said Donald Kerwin, a lawyer and asylum expert at the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.

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