Staunch Cold War Ally Faces Deportation from U.S.

General Eugenio Vides Casanova, a former defense minister from El Salvador, was found by a 1983 United States Department of State report to have "acquiesced" in the cover-up to the rape and murder of four Catholic nuns and the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero. He has also been found liable for the brutal and systematic torture of the detained Salvadorans during his time in power.

At the same time, Mr. Vides Casanova was a valued cold war ally of the United States who was praised for his iron-fisted approach to the battle with marxist guerillas. He was awarded the Legion of Merit award by President Reagan. He eventually retired to a coastal community in Miami, Florida.

Now, the Department of Homeland Security is seeking to deport this once valued ally for his role in torture and other human rights abuses. An immigration court in Florida is scheduled to hear Mr. Vides Casanova’s removal proceedings this week. Though normally removal proceedings take only a half-day, the immigration court has scheduled Mr. Vides Casanova’s case for a full week. Former U.S. ambassadors are supposed to both testify against Mr. Vides Casanova and in his defense.

This case involves a fascinating intersection between the U.S. history of realpolitik foreign policy in opposing leftists and Latin America and the Department of Homeland Security’s desire to deport a man responsible for severe human rights abuses. It will be interesting to see how it unfolds.

For more on the removal proceedings against General Eugenio Vides Casanova, click on the following links:

-article from the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting;

-article from The Guardian;

-article from The New York Times.

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Designation of El Salvador for Temporary Protected Status

The Secretary of Homeland Security has extended the designation of El Salvador for temporary protected status (TPS) for 18 months.  Now rather than expiring on September 9, 2010, TPS for El Salvador will expire on March 9, 2012. The Department of Homeland Security has set forth procedures necessary for nationals of El Salvador (or aliens having no nationality who last habitually resided in El Salvador) with TPS to re-register and to apply for an extension of their employment authorization documents (EADs) with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).  Re-registration is limited to persons who previously registered for TPS under the designation of El Salvador and whose applications have been granted or remain pending. Certain nationals of El Salvador (or aliens having no nationality who last habitually resided in El Salvador) who have not previously applied for TPS may be eligible to apply under the late initial registration provisions.  For more information click here.

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Asylum Laws Offer Little Protection to Those Escaping Gang Violence

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/us/29asylum.html?pagewanted=1&adxnnl=1&src=me&adxnnlx=1277841750-rJzdQEmnSPisQK1%20JK30nQ
This article highlights, yet another issue, the federal government faces with immigration reform. Immigration courts have seen thousands of gang-related claims from Central Americans seeking asylum in the United States. Asylum is rarely granted. The article tells the story of two Salvadorans who have added new credibility to these types of asylum claims. Their stories have also “increased the pressure on the courts and the Obama administration to clarify the terms of asylum laws so that foreigners facing life-threatening dangers from gangs would have a chance at refuge in this country.”

Mr. Zaldivar failed to show that the gang he feared was specifically coming after him. The judge wrote that even though he had been threatened that if he didn’t join his family would be hurt, neither the respondent nor anyone is his family had ACTUALLY been harmed. He was deported to El Salvador after is asylum petition failed. He was murdered two months later proof that his fears were not exaggerated.

Mr. Benitez waits in El Salvador, after being deported last year, to come back to the United States. He was recruited by a gang when he was 14 but quit after 9 years, after becoming an Evangelical Christian, fleeing to the U.S. to join his Christian relatives. The Seventh Circuit Court rejected the immigration court’s finding that Mr. Benitez’s fears did not meet the asylum test and granted his request. He has a tattoo on his forehead showing his prior membership of the gang, he is literally a marked man.

Immigration judges have continued to reject asylum for people running from Central American gangs because the threats are “vague and that petitioners’ lives [do] not appear to be truly at risk.” Central America is the most violent region of the world. However, immigration judges are always careful not to open the asylum door to any flood, making it more difficult for Central Americans running from gangs.

Legal standards for asylum in the U.S. are not easy to meet. Asylum seekers must show that they have a “well founded fear of persecution” because of their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or “membership in a particular social group”.

In a land mark decision the BIA stated that “Gang violence and crime in El Salvador appear to be widespread and the risk of harm is not limited to young males who have resisted recruitment.” The judges created several legal hurdles for individuals seeking asylum by requiring them to prove they are a part of a “particular social group” that is recognized in their home society.

Deborah Anker, a law professor at Harvard, stated “the law has been kind of ripped apart. Requirements have been imposed that make no sense in terms of prior jurisprudences and are impossible to interpret.”

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