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Mexican Reporter's Asylum Case Pushed To 2012

By KRWG News

El Paso – An immigration judge has delayed for 15 months the second round of asylum hearings for a Mexican journalist who says he fled across the U.S. border because of death threats due to his coverage of the drug war.

Emilio Gutierrez Soto last month spent hours before Judge Robert Hough in El Paso. He was to resume his hearing Friday.

But his attorney, Carlos Spector, asked it to be rescheduled since he had to appear in a separate court case.

The new date is May 9, 2012, Spector's staff said.

Why such a lengthy delay is unclear. Gutierrez claims it's politically motivated.

Gutierrez and his son arrived in New Mexico in 2008. He says his life was threatened after his stories accusing Mexico's military of abusing civilians while seeking cartel smugglers.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.