WASHINGTON, July 11, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A
federal judge is challenging the government's detention of a
National Press Club award-winner, saying there is "enough evidence"
to suggest that immigration officials violated the First Amendment
rights of Mexican journalist Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto and his son,
Oscar.
In a 26-page order filed Tuesday, Judge David Guaderrama of El
Paso cited constitutional protections of free speech and
press freedom in raising concerns about immigration officials'
treatment of Gutiérrez, who entered the country legally 10 years
ago seeking asylum after his reporting on official corruption in
his home country made him the target of death threats.
The government had asked Guaderrama to dismiss a writ of habeas
corpus, filed by the Rutgers University
Law School's clinic on international human rights, to free
Gutiérrez and his son. Instead, the judge set an Aug. 1 hearing date. Gutiérrez has been offered a
prestigious Knight Wallace fellowship at the University of Michigan, but he can only accept it
if he is free from detention by the time the program begins this
fall.
Lawyers for Gutiérrez believe the judge's order carries
far-reaching implications not only for his case, but for those of
other asylum seekers.
"This is a really important First Amendment opinion," said
Penny Venetis, the Rutgers University law professor who authored the
writ seeking immediate release of the two men. She said it protects
"the right of asylum seekers to exercise their free speech
rights.
"It's a win for the press for sure," said Eduardo Beckett, an El
Paso immigration attorney who has argued that Gutiérrez and
his son were targeted, first by the Mexican government and then by
the Trump administration, for his work as a journalist.
In scheduling a hearing on the writ, Guaderrama cited several
factors as raising concerns:
- An Immigration and Customs Enforcement official's admonition
that the National Press Club should "tone it down" during a meeting
in which club Executive Director Bill
McCarren made a personal plea for Gutiérrez's release;
- An email exchange, turned up by a National Press Club Freedom
of Information Act request, that suggests ICE officials had
targeted the Mexican journalist for arrest within weeks of
President Donald Trump's
election;
He also said that the timing of Gutiérrez's arrest, just
weeks after the journalist criticized U.S. treatment of
asylum-seekers in an appearance at the National Press Club, raises
concerns that immigration officials "retaliated…for Mr. Gutiérrez
-Soto's remarks."
"Pure political speech is entitled to the highest First
Amendment protection," Guaderrama said in his order.
Gutiérrez arrived in the United
States in 2008 through a legal port of entry, requesting
asylum, along with his then-15-year-old son. He fled his home in
Mexico after being threatened
multiple times for his reporting on corrupt government officials.
After initially separating father and son and detaining them for
eight months, ICE officials in 2009 agreed they had "credible fear"
of returning to their home country and allowed them to remain in
the United States while their case
was being adjudicated.
In October, 2017, the Mexican journalist accepted the Aubuchon
Freedom of the Press award on behalf of journalists in Mexico, now one of the most dangerous
countries in the world for journalists.
Nearly 20 professional press organizations and human rights
groups have joined the National Press Club in calling on the U.S.
government to free Gutiérrez and grant him asylum.
Contact:
- Kathy Kiely, National Press Club
Journalism Institute Press Freedom Fellow, kkiely@press.org
- Doug Harbrecht, National Press
Club Journalism Institute Acting Director,
dharbrecht@press.org
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SOURCE National Press Club