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WASHINGTON – Drug cartel attacks against Mexican police have become so violent and so common that some Mexican police chiefs are seeking safety in the United States.
Faced with cartel-sponsored assassinations that have claimed the lives of more than 25 officers since the start of May – including that of Edgar Millán Gómez, head of the federal police – and threats of further retaliation, some Mexican police are quitting their posts.
But three times in recent months, leaders of Mexican police have gone further, arriving at U.S. border crossings and applying for political asylum out of fear for their lives, according to Jayson Ahern, deputy commissioner of Customs and Border Protection.
"They're basically abandoned by their police officers or police departments in many cases," Mr. Ahern told the Associated Press on Tuesday.
A CBP spokesman confirmed the AP account to The Dallas Morning News on Wednesday but would not release further details.
The requests come as Congress considers whether to approve the Merida Initiative, the Bush administration's plan to provide Mexico up to $1.4 billion in military equipment, training and other resources over the next three years to help the country in its fight against drug cartels. An initial installment of $400 million is included in the emergency spending bill to pay for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
More than 300 Mexican police officers have been killed in the last year in the ongoing drug fight and more than 3,500 people have died in drug-related violence.
The violence throughout Mexico has dominated much of Mexican President Felipe Calderón's 17 months in office. Mr. Calderón has responded by mobilizing the Mexican military, sending 30,000 troops to hot spots throughout Mexico "in an effort to recapture territories lost to drug traffickers," he said.
Ricardo Alday, a spokesman for the Mexican Embassy in Washington, said he was only aware of one case of a police chief seeking asylum in the U.S. – that of Palomas Police Chief Emilio Pérez.
Mr. Pérez was threatened by phone after discovering two bodies, their hands tied behind their backs, at the entrance to his city, which is just across the border from Columbus, N.M. Within hours, his six remaining police officers quit their jobs, and Mr. Pérez drove across the border and asked for political asylum.
"We are concerned not only about this incident of the police officer coming across the border but also about the level of violence in certain areas of the border," Mr. Alday said.
The government, as part of a pre-existing plan to strengthen police presence along the border, responded by sending about 2,000 troops to the region.
"As the president has said from the outset ... this is the only way we can win the war on the drug lords and organized crime," he said. "He expected that more violence might come, that things might get worse before they got better."
To some in the U.S. Congress, the prospect of Mexican police seeking asylum in the United States could send an ominous message.
Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, a member of the House subcommittee that oversees immigration and asylum and the leading Republican on the panel on crime terrorism and homeland security, said he was sympathetic to those fleeing violence south of the border, but only to a point.
"These are law enforcement officials that are needed in Mexico," he said. "If those who are charged with protecting Mexican citizens and enforcing the law in Mexico can't afford to stay there, then the drug lords win and the United States loses."
Mr. Gohmert said the reports fuel his existing concerns about the Merida Initiative.
"I'm concerned at turning that over to a military and police that can't protect themselves and find it necessary to flee to the United States," he said, citing reports of U.S. military equipment falling into the hands of the cartels.
But Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston, said the murder and intimidation of police only underscores the need for U.S. assistance, in equipment, technology and training for Mexican efforts against the cartels.
"If Mexico seeks our help on something, like they did," he said, "we need to help them every way we can."
He added: "It's also in our interests. It's not just the interest of Mexico. If they lose that battle we will continue to lose the battle on our side of the border."
Mr. Green recognized the concerns about military equipment falling into the wrong hands
"Does that mean we're not supposed to help our neighbors try and control their own country?" he asked. "We'll just have to cross that bridge if some of that equipment gets to the dark side."
Despite the violence and threats faced by the three asylum-seeking police chiefs, there's no guarantee they'll be ruled eligible for refugee status in the United States.
The Citizenship and Immigration Services division of the Department of Homeland Security, which declined to comment on specifics of cases, said to qualify for asylum, applicants must have faced persecution "on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion," according to CIS documents.
Professor Huyen Phan, who teaches immigration law at Texas Wesleyan University, said that while a particular type of employment usually isn't protected, the police chiefs could argue that they are part of a "social group" of current and former law enforcement officials who are at risk.
"If they quit their jobs, would the drug cartels still go after them? That's one question the judge will ask," Ms. Phan said. "I don't think I'd rule out of hand that they wouldn't have an asylum claim."
In one of the latest killings, Juan Antonio Roman Garcia, second in command of the Ciudad Juárez police department, was shot more than 50 times Saturday as he parked his car outside his home.
Mr. Roman's name was first on a hit list left in January by drug traffickers who warned that the targets would face death unless they resigned their posts. Many heeded the message. Others kept working and were hunted down over the past weeks.
"Everyone who works at the Juárez police department is in mourning," Juárez police spokesman Jaime Torres said in a written statement Saturday. "But we reiterate our will and firm commitment to continue working toward maintaining order and social tranquility in our city."
However, granting the chiefs refugee status could pose an implicit insult to the Mexican government, she said, because persecution by groups other than the government is usually only grounds for asylum if the government can't or won't intervene to prevent it.
"We'd be saying we're giving asylum to your police chiefs because you're unable to control the drug cartels," she said.
A look at recent Mexican drug war-related violence:
May 14 –Two police officers were shot and killed in northern Mexico as they tried to stop gunmen from kidnapping a family. State prosecutor Carlos Centeno said the attackers also threw grenades Wednesday at the officers in the city of Torreon. Torreon is in Coahuíla state, which borders Texas. In a separate attack, assailants opened fire and threw grenades at a police station in Guamuchil in the northern state of Sinalóa. No one was injured.
May 10 – The No. 2 on the Juárez police force was shot more than 50 times and killed near his home. Also. the Juárez police chief resigned.
May 9 – Four gunmen in a truck shot and killed a former commander of Mexico City's anti-kidnapping unit. The former commander was shot seven times in the head in front of his apartment. At the time he was working for the Honor and Justice Council of Mexico City's police, which is similar to the internal affairs units in U.S. police forces.
May 8 – Mexico's acting federal police chief opened the door to his Mexico City apartment and was shot nine times and killed.
May 6 – The Ciudad Juárez police captain was shot four times with an AK-47 and killed a block from his police station.
May 5 – A state police officer was shot and killed in front of her Ciudad Juárez home. A group of attackers spoke to her briefly before they shot her.
May 2 – The director of the Public Security Secretariat General staff was shot and killed as he left his Mexico City house.
May 1 – The head of the Organized Crime Department at the Public Security ministry was shot in the head by two men. The shooters ran off with the victim's car, and authorities found a .380 caliber weapon with a silencer.
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