← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · confederate_commando

Gay Mexican wins US asylum case

Thread ID: 19629 | Posts: 8 | Started: 2005-08-14

Wayback Archive

confederate_commando [OP]

2005-08-14 00:05 | User Profile

Gay Mexican wins US asylum case

Mexico City has long celebrated gay pride but the US court was sceptical A court in the US has ruled that a gay Mexican with Aids is eligible for asylum because of the danger of persecution in his home country. The appeals court in San Francisco overturned earlier rulings by immigration courts.

The three-judge panel said Jose Boer-Sedano, 45, would probably face further abuse in Mexico and have difficulty getting Aids treatment.

"It really does mean that he'll be safe now," said Mr Boer-Sedano's lawyer.

Angela Bean said her client was overcome with emotion at the court's decision.

Mr Boer-Sedano testified that in his home country he had been forced to perform sex acts by a police officer who threatened to kill him or expose his homosexuality.

'Bad influence'

He said he had been shunned by his family.

"Despite his attempts to conceal his sexuality, others could perceive it and Boer-Sedano was ostracised by his family, friends, and co-workers on that basis," the judges wrote in their judgement.

"His family refused to allow him to interact with other family members or his friends, fearing that Boer-Sedano would be a 'bad influence' on them."

The court said that the death threats by the police officer - Mr Boer-Sedano said he was stopped nine times in three months in the late 1980s - constituted persecution by a government agent.

Mr Boer-Sedano, who now works as a waiter in San Francisco, arrived in the city on a six-month visa in 1990, and remained for seven years before moves were made to return him to Mexico.

San Francisco's Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals has made several rulings granting asylum to gay or transsexual applicants from Latin America where it has found they have been abused by police.

The US state department has reported that in Mexico violence against homosexuals is widespread.

[url]http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4149892.stm[/url]

Angler

2005-08-14 00:12 | User Profile

Mr Boer-Sedano testified that in his home country he had been forced to perform sex acts by a police officer who threatened to kill him or expose his homosexuality. Well, his homosexuality is only international news now! :lol:

Ponce

2005-08-14 00:54 | User Profile

And a new magic door opens into the US.

Sertorius

2005-08-14 01:10 | User Profile

[QUOTE]"It really does mean that he'll be safe now," said Mr Boer-Sedano's lawyer.[/QUOTE] Indeed. Now, there are folks here that are at risk from him.

Pennsylvania_Dutch

2005-08-14 17:30 | User Profile

[QUOTE=Sertorius]Indeed. Now, there are folks here that are at risk from him.[/QUOTE] MS-13 is using West Virginia as a staging area: [url]http://sundaygazettemail.com/section/News/2005081319[/url]

Note that WV has only 70 some state police to cover 7 counties.

Sertorius

2005-08-14 18:55 | User Profile

PD,

Good fine.

August 14, 2005 Vicious MS-13 street gang bringing its blood lust to W.Va.

By The Associated Press

BLOOMERY — It seems an unlikely setting for a meeting of big-city gang members — a secluded spot along the Shenandoah River where the loudest noises come from tires crunching gravel and water rushing over the dam.

But it’s here, on a narrow road just across the Virginia state line, that authorities say members of MS-13, one of the nation’s most violent gangs, have begun to congregate.

“If you just drove through, you wouldn’t notice. But we sit and watch what they do,” says Jefferson County sheriff’s Lt. Bobby Shirley. While women serve picnics and children play, “the men are standing around, clearly doing business.”

MS-13 is shorthand for Mara Salvatrucha, a Latin American gang founded in Los Angeles by refugees from El Salvador. Federal authorities consider it one of the nation’s most vicious street gangs and estimate that it has 10,000 members in more than 30 states.

Earlier this year, after several homicides in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., the FBI announced a crackdown. Hundreds of members have since been rounded up, and some deported. But the gang, in part to lower its profile, is spreading out.

West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle, less than 70 miles from Washington, offers a haven from prying eyes.

“We’re so close to Baltimore, Washington, even Philadelphia, that we’re getting an element that we definitely don’t want,” says West Virginia State Police Capt. Rob Blair, commander of the detachment based in Charles Town.

Police suspect MS-13 in only a few assaults and robberies, but Jefferson County Sheriff Ed Boober is certain the gang is present — and preying on some of the county’s newest residents.

A growing number of Hispanic immigrants have found work here, lured by the apple orchards, the booming construction market and the thoroughbred racing industry at the Charles Town Races & Slots. Often, though, they arrive alone and friendless — a situation the gang can use.

“They’re recruiting everywhere. They’re looking for people who don’t belong,” Boober says. “The bad thing is, once you join, you can’t unjoin.”

Although gang activity is not pervasive, Boober says there are subtle signs: MS graffiti on buildings. Clothing emblazoned with 13, XIII or MS. Teens at Jefferson High School weaving red bandannas through belt loops.

“It’s very quiet. It’s below the top of the water. But we know it’s there,” the sheriff says. “To say that they are not present in our community is putting your head in the sand.”

Former Modesto, Calif., police Officer Jared Lewis says MS-13 markets the gang as a way to embrace Latin American heritage. Parents who are unfamiliar with American teens’ customs might not recognize what’s happening, mistakenly believing their children are just learning to fit in.

“They think all kids throw hand signs, all kids wear colors, all kids write these symbols on their books,” says Lewis, director of Wisconsin-based Know Gangs, a group of consultants that educates law enforcement, teachers and social workers. “But I don’t know of any culture — Mexican, Irish, African-American, Polish, whatever — that gang membership is part of the heritage.”

In April, an FBI official testified before Congress about MS-13, whose members also come from Honduras and Guatemala. Three members of the Los Angeles crew moved to the Northern Virginia-D.C. area in 1993 to recruit, and, by this past spring, there were 1,500 members.

“It appears that the MS-13 is still a loosely structured street gang,” Chris Swecker, assistant director of the Criminal Investigative Division, says in the transcript of his testimony posted on the FBI’s Web site. “However, its threat is based on its violence and its potential to grow, not only geographically, but in its organization and sophistication.”

Later this month, Thomas E. Johnston, U.S. attorney for West Virginia’s Northern District, will hold a training session for local law enforcement agencies. Officers must learn to protect themselves and their communities as the gang presence grows.

“I view this as something that’s possibly on the horizon,” Johnston says, “and certainly a potential threat worth preparing for.”

Anyone who watches television or reads a newspaper knows that law enforcement in the Eastern Panhandle is not growing in proportion to the population it serves.

The State Police has just 62 officers, including commanders, to cover seven counties every day.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department might have only two or three deputies to cover weekend shifts.

“We’re trying to be as proactive as we can, and hopefully we can keep it from growing or from even setting roots here,” says Blair, of the State Police. “We don’t want it and we don’t need it. But with the limited resources and manpower we have, it’s hard.”

Lewis says West Virginia should take MS-13 seriously, regardless of how benign it now seems.

“There is this perception that because they’re not out there carrying guns and shooting people every day, that they’re different from other gangs,” he says.

But they aren’t.

“If that kid is interested in gangs, that’s an interest in drugs. That’s an interest in violence. That’s an interest in victimizing the weak. If that interest is there, that’s a problem,” Lewis says. “It’s just a matter of how long it takes interest to turn to action.” [url]http://sundaygazettemail.com/section/News/2005081319[/url] =================== The only good thing about this is that they stand out. Just another reason to restrict immigration. [QUOTE]MS-13 is shorthand for Mara Salvatrucha, a Latin American gang founded in Los Angeles by refugees from El Salvador. Federal authorities consider it one of the nation’s most vicious street gangs and estimate that it has 10,000 members in more than 30 states.[/QUOTE] This is a much bigger threat in the U.S. than al-Qaida. [QUOTE]“We’re so close to Baltimore, Washington, even Philadelphia, that we’re getting an element that we definitely don’t want,” says West Virginia State Police Capt. Rob Blair, commander of the detachment based in Charles Town.[/QUOTE] I'd be willing to bet that the above named cities are all "sanctuary cities". [QUOTE]Later this month, Thomas E. Johnston, U.S. attorney for West Virginia’s Northern District, will hold a training session for local law enforcement agencies. Officers must learn to protect themselves and their communities as the gang presence grows.[/QUOTE] Let's hope they keep the A.D.L. and their "teaching tolerance" nonsense away.

jeffersonian

2005-08-15 15:44 | User Profile

[QUOTE]The three-judge panel said Jose Boer-Sedano, 45, would probably face further abuse in Mexico [B]and have difficulty getting Aids treatment[/B]. [/QUOTE]

Translation: The public dole is not nearly as generous in Mexico and US taxpayers are more able to pay.

Blond Knight

2005-08-15 18:36 | User Profile

[QUOTE]Mr Boer-Sedano, who now works as a waiter in San Francisco[/QUOTE]

Never mind folkth, that I jutht sneezed on the salad bar & my post nasal drip landed in your cole-slaw, oopth!