EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — After a 15-year battle, a Mexican journalist and his son were granted asylum Monday, March 18 in an El Paso courtroom. The pair’s path to U.S. citizenship is now clear from threats of deportation.
Emilio Gutierrez Soto and Oscar Gutierrez Soto fled to the U.S. in 2008 after Emilio received death threats over his reports covering corruption within the Mexican military.
During the 15-year ordeal, the father and son underwent forced separation, incarceration in a detention facility twice and attempted deportation.
“Emilio was persecuted both by the Mexican government and the U.S. government for his freedom of speech,” said the pair’s attorney, Eduardo Beckett.
Beckett said despite Gutierrez Soto entering the country through legal channels, he was targeted for his critiques of the U.S. immigration process. Gutierrez Soto requested asylum twice, both requests denied by Judge Robert S. Hough who questioned Gutierrez Soto’s credentials as a journalist and the severity of the threats he received.
William McCarren, former executive director of the National Press Club in Washington DC, said: “The drawbacks in the earlier case with the prior judge, Judge Hough, was that he questioned the entire time whether Emilio was a journalist or not, despite us having hundreds of articles.”
Lynette Clemetson, director of the Knight-Wallace Fellowship at the University of Michigan, said Gutierrez Soto never denounced his role as a journalist, even though his work almost took his life.
“Everything he did, he did to save Oscar’s life because his son was held at gunpoint in front of his eyes so he’s been incredibly strong when I think many people would have given up,” said Clemetson.
With their asylum status affirmed, the father and son can now apply for citizenship. Clemetson and McCarren said while Monday’s status hearing was a win, their jobs are not over.
McCarren said: “There’s now case law established where other journalists could use this and it could be effective for them going forward. What we’d like is for there to be some identified judges who get special training about journalism. So, they don’t need to start from zero on things like this.”
Clemetson echoed McCarren’s sentiments and said: “We’re celebrating today, but we also know that we need to keep fighting and that there are many journalists from many countries as the world has become more autocratic who face similar challenges.”
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