House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Virginia, criticized
DHS for the releases, saying the asylum seekers may never return to
court. "I am concerned that credible fear claims are being exploited by
illegal immigrants in order to enter and remain in the United States,"
he wrote Janet Napolitano in August, before she stepped down as DHS
secretary.
DHS said in a statement that custody decisions are made on factors
including ties to the community, flight risk and criminal record. They
wouldn't comment on releases.
Some asylum seekers have said they were turned back at the border,
including Isamar Gonzalez, 20, of Buenavista, and her mother. "We told
them we wanted asylum and they laughed at us," Gonzalez said.
But many others make it across after an initial screening. Candelaria
Aguilar feared the cartel would kidnap her 14- and 10-year-old sons and
turn them into hit men. She made the trip to San Diego after her
sister-in-law called from Los Angeles to say she had been freed pending a
court hearing on her asylum request.
"It got me fired up," said the 30-year-old single mother, who also was
released by U.S. immigration officials with her children last week after
one night in custody. "This is the only way out."
Ynez Valencia Valladares, 23, said she boarded a bus to Tijuana with her
children, ages 7, 5 and 3, unsure what to do after her brothers were
killed on the family ranch. A Tijuana taxi driver told her to claim
asylum, and she and her children were released after one night in
custody.
Elizabeth Silva's path toward asylum began when the hooded men kicked
open the door to the family's home in Apatzingan around 8 a.m. on Sept.
2, killing her father, Jorge Silva, 47, and brother, Jose Manuel Silva,
14, according to the Michoacan state attorney general's office. Police
made no arrests and haven't disclosed a possible motive. Silva suggested
it had something to do with extortion payments.
"Everyone in town pays up," she said. "Everyone."
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Stevenson reported from Mexico City.
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