EL PASO — A Mexican human rights official who has said he feared for his life has been detained by U.S. immigration authorities as an asylum-seeker — even though he doesn’t want American protection, his lawyer said.
Lawyer Carlos Spector said a border agent asked Gustavo de la Rosa Hickerson about comments that he feared he might be killed. De la Rosa confirmed the media reports and reiterated his fears but never asked for asylum in the U.S., the lawyer said.
Roger Maier, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection whose agents interview people trying to enter the U.S., said that if someone expresses fear in a border interview of being returned to their home country, officers are required to turn their case over to an asylum officer.
