Mexican drug war creates new class of refugees

As part of the Los Angeles Times' continued coverage of the drug war in Mexico, Andrew Becker and Patrick J. McDonnell report on a new class of refugees seeking asylum in the United States. Law enforcement officers, business owners and journalists are increasingly trying to escape the violence and danger linked to Mexico's drug war. "The number of asylum requests filed at U.S. border entries by Mexican nationals nearly doubled to almost 200 in the last fiscal year, and the pace has increased this year. Seventy Mexican asylum-seekers filed petitions in the first quarter, most of them in El Paso and San Diego. The figures are small compared with the vast scale of illegal immigration, but many fear explosive growth if the bloodshed worsens."