By KRWG News
El Paso – The attorney for a Mexican human rights activist says the U.S. government has granted her political asylum request.
Cipriana Jurado applied for asylum in March after her friend and long-time human rights colleague Josefina Reyes was gunned down in Juarez in January.
Her lawyer, Carlos Spector, said it is the first time an asylum request has been granted to a human rights activist accusing the Mexican army of persecution.
He called the decision a "political message" that officials will look at cases more openly.
The US Citizen and Immigration Services did not immediately reply to a message requesting confirmation.
The 46-year-old activist started as a worker rights advocate, then helped relatives of murdered women and eventually became an outspoken critic of the militarization of the city.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.