Mexican Asylum Cases at U.S. Border on the Rise

The Associated Press reported that: More Mexicans are going to the U.S. border ports, asking for political asylum – a newspaper analysis. The Arizona Republic reported information from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration services showed that in 2002, 50 Mexican nationals went to a U.S. port of entry and asked for asylum. As of August 2009, 303 asylum cases have been received. In 2008, U.S. immigration officials reported that were 312 asylum requests from Mexican nationals at a U.S. port of entry. There has also been a jump in asylum applications from Mexicans already in the U.S. There were 1,410 applications in 2006, compared to 2,144 applications in 2008, according to CIS data.