El Paso Times

EL PASO — A change in U.S. government guidelines that stops the practice of detaining people seeking political asylum was welcomed Wednesday by immigrant advocates.

But those advocates said they would keep close watch over how the new guidelines play out as asylum seekers request a temporary release into the United States.

Beginning Jan. 4, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will release people who have a credible fear of persecution or torture in their home countries.

The release granted to people seeking asylum allows them to enter the United States without being formally admitted or given immigration status.

The Obama administration announced the new federal guidelines last week. They are a shift in the current immigration policy, which requires asylum seekers to request a temporary release in writing.

Immigrant advocates said some people requesting asylum spent up to a year or more in detention.

Chihuahua human-rights investigator Gustavo de la Rosa Hickerson, who was detained by U.S. officials for about five days after he expressed fear for his safety in Mexico, called the new guidelines compassionate.

He said Mexicans in fear for their lives faced a grim decision when they arrived at a port of entry in the United States.

"Which do you prefer, death or jail?" he said about people weighing whether to turn back to Mexico or wait in a U.S. detention center. "We all prefer jail, but we don’t deserve to be there because jail is for criminals."

Hickerson said the possibility of a long wait has been a deterrent for some people.

A tally of requests made for political asylum at El Paso’s ports of entry was not immediately available.

But Roger Maier, a spokes man for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said it was common for people to seek political asylum in El Paso.

In fiscal year 2008, the federal government received 47,459 asylum claims and granted 10,743 — a decrease over the previous year’s 54,957 applications and 12,807 approvals.

Under the new guidelines, people seeking asylum will spend time in detention while they are interviewed and their claim of a credible fear is verified.

Asylum seekers must establish their identities and cannot pose a flight risk or danger to the community before they are granted a temporary release.

The guidelines offer more than just a humane way to deal with asylum seekers, said Eduardo Beckett, a lawyer for Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center.

He said keeping people out of detention centers gives them a chance to work. It also reduces the federal government’s costs of housing and feeding people in immigration detention centers.

"We are excited about this new policy," Beckett said. "We hope that it is not just words, but action."

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"Chihuahua human-rights investigator Gustavo de la Rosa Hickerson, who was detained by U.S. officials for about five days after he expressed fear for his safety in Mexico, called the new guidelines compassionate"

I still believe that Gustavo de la Rosa’s actions were a dry run to help advance his cause (using the guise of asylum seeker to help Mexicans gain easier admittance to the U.S. without being held while they are processed) and it worked. Once the Mexican is in the U.S. he is home-free because he can easily flee while being processed and he knows that no-one will ever go looking for him.