美国国家公共电台 NPR Mexican Journalist Released, Awaits Asylum Appeal（在线收听）

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A Mexican journalist who had sought asylum in the U.S. is now free. Immigration authorities released him last week after he and his son spent nearly eight months in detention. His discharge took his legal team by surprise, and it spared immigration officials from having to justify their actions. A federal judge had questioned whether they violated the reporter's First Amendment rights. Monica Ortiz Uribe reports.

MONICA ORTIZ URIBE, BYLINE: At a black-tie gala in Washington, D.C., last October, The National Press Club recognized the perils confronted by the Mexican press. Mexico remains one of the deadliest countries for journalists. Fifteen have been killed since the beginning of 2017.

EMILIO GUTIERREZ SOTO: (Through interpreter) Good evening, everyone.

URIBE: Accepting an award on behalf of his fellow reporters was Emilio Gutierrez Soto, who fled from threats by the Mexican military a decade ago. In his acceptance speech, Gutierrez accused the U.S. of being hypocritical.

SOTO: (Speaking Spanish).

URIBE: "While America promotes human rights abroad, it denies them at home," he said, referring to immigrants and asylum-seekers. Nine weeks later, federal officers in El Paso handcuffed Gutierrez and his 25-year-old son during a routine immigration check-in and put them in a car headed for the border.

EDUARDO BECKETT: I think he was targeted - was targeted for being a journalist, for being Mexican, for being outspoken.

URIBE: Eduardo Beckett is Gutierrez's attorney. He managed to stop the deportation. Instead, Gutierrez and his son were detained. This came months after a judge rejected their asylum request, and their appeal was still in limbo. But emails later unearthed by his defense team show immigration officers flagged Gutierrez well before that. Beckett says his name appeared on a target list typically reserved for fugitives.

BECKETT: And so the question is, why? Why him? Well, he's not a fugitive. He's not a criminal. He's not a gangster. He's not a drug dealer. He doesn't even have warrants.

URIBE: The National Press Club began an online petition denouncing Gutierrez's arrest. In sworn testimony, the club's executive director, Bill McCarren, said an official with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, asked that he, quote, "tone it down" with regards to Gutierrez's case. In a statement, ICE denies ever making such a request. Again, attorney Eduardo Beckett.

BECKETT: So all these red flags could only logically conclude that they have it in for Emilio and that under the Trump administration they felt empowered that they can violate the law, violate the Constitution and get away with it.

URIBE: A federal judge in El Paso ordered ICE to turn over additional documents related to Gutierrez's arrest. Instead, ICE released Gutierrez the day before it was supposed to comply with the judge's order. By doing so, the agency was no longer under the obligation to release the documents. ICE has not responded to questions related to this case. Molly Molloy is an American friend of Gutierrez who compiled an archive of his work.

MOLLY MOLLOY: After he flees the government in Mexico that's persecuting him, he comes here and is essentially persecuted yet again by our own government.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Yay.

(LAUGHTER)

URIBE: Friends joyfully embraced Gutierrez the night he was released. Before a semicircle of news cameras, Gutierrez again impugned the U.S. immigration system.

SOTO: (Speaking Spanish).

URIBE: "I share in the pain of immigrants who simply arrive in this country fleeing for their lives," he said. His pursuit for asylum continues. The first hearing in Gutierrez's appeal is scheduled later this month before the same judge who rejected his plea last year. For NPR News, I'm Monica Ortiz Uribe in El Paso.