Mexican journalist Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto has been seeking asylum in the United States for nearly a decade. He fled here with his son in 2008, after facing death threats for his reporting on government and military corruption, and lived for years in Las Cruces.
Gutiérrez was denied asylum last year, but he’s appealing that decision. He showed up for a hearing in an El Paso immigration court on Monday. Gutiérrez flew in from Ann Arbor, where he’s spending a year at the University of Michigan as a Knight-Wallace journalism fellow.
Lynette Clemetson directs the prestigious fellowship program. She came to El Paso to testify in support of Gutiérrez.
Clemetson spoke outside the courthouse about why this case is so significant. She started off by describing her first meeting with Gutiérrez. At the time, he was being held in an immigration detention center, after federal officials detained him during a routine check-in.
