IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
EL PASO DIVISION
Emilio GUTIÉRREZ-SOTO and Oscar
GUTIÉRREZ-SOTO,
Petitioners
vs.
Jefferson SESSIONS III, in his official
capacity as the Attorney General of the
United States; Kirstjen NIELSEN in her
official capacity as Secretary of Homeland
Security; Thomas HOMAN in his official
capacity as the acting Director for U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement;
William P. JOYCE in his official capacity as
the acting El Paso Field Office Director for
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement;
and the U.S. DEPARTMENT OF
HOMELAND SECURITY,
Respondents.

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NOS. 18-CV-00071
18-CV-00072

BRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE JOURNALISTS’ ORGANIZATIONS IN SUPPORT OF
PETITIONERS EMILIO GUTIÉRREZ-SOTO’S
AND OSCAR EMILIO GUTIÉRREZ-SOTO’S PETITIONS
FOR WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

I.

STATEMENT OF INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE ....................................................1

II.

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT................................................................................2

III.

ARGUMENT ......................................................................................................3
A.

B.

IV.

Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto was unquestionably a professional journalist
in Mexico ..............................................................................................3
1.

Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto published multiple articles under his
byline with El Diario del Noroeste of Nuevo Casas
Grandes, Ascencion Edition.......................................................3

2.

Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto’s work as a journalist has received
the praise and admiration of his international colleagues.......... 6

As a result of Mr. Gutiérrez’s reporting on the Mexican
government, Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto and his son have a credible
fear of persecution ................................................................................8
1.

There is abundant evidence that Mexican journalists who
have reported on government corruption face persecution
(including death), and that such crimes are committed
with impunity .............................................................................8

2.

The Mexican military is a leading perpetrator of violence
against journalists throughout Mexico and has recently
officially immunized from sanctions for such attacks .............14

3.

There is a much greater threat to the Petitioners’ personal
safety now than when they initially sought asylum .................17

C.

To deny Petitioners asylum would be an egregious break with
this Nation’s long-standing commitment to provide refuge to
journalists from foreign lands who are the targets of reprisal ..........19

D.

Petitioners should be released from detention while their
asylum claims are pending .................................................................21

CONCLUSION .................................................................................................24

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 I.

STATEMENT OF INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE
At a time when physical, and often fatal, attacks against reporters and editors around the

globe are at an all-time high, 1 our Nation has a heightened duty to provide safe haven to foreign
journalists, like Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto, and their families, who flee their homelands in response
to serious threats to their safety as a result of their work. The public interest in protecting
refugees who are journalists is especially great. Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto’s reporting on the corruption
and human rights abuses of the Mexican military has garnered international press coverage. As a
result, he and his son undoubtedly would face life-threatening government reprisal were they to
be forcibly returned to Mexico, where fifty-one (51) journalists have been murdered with
impunity in the last ten years.
The National Press Club and the nineteen other organizations appearing as amici curiae
all share a fundamental commitment to protecting the free flow of accurate and truthful
information, via the press, to the peoples of the world. 2 These twenty (20) amici respectfully
urge this Court to immediately grant the Gutiérrez-Sotos’ petitions for habeas corpus, to end the
ongoing injustice U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) is perpetrating against
them by detaining and treating them as common criminals, deprived of their liberty.

1

See, e.g., Committee to Protect Journalists, Record Number Of Journalists Jailed As Turkey,
China,
Egypt
Pay
Scant
Price
For
Repression,
available
at
https://cpj.org/reports/2017/12/journalists-prison-jail-record-number-turkey-china-egypt.php;
Reporters Without Borders, 2017 Press Freedom Index, available at https://rsf.org/en/ranking.
A copy of the article authored by the Committee to Protect Journalists has been attached as part
of Exhibit C. [Exh. 1 to Exh. C, pp. 80-93].
Sixteen of these organizations have been granted leave to appear amici curiae before the Board
of Immigration Appeals in support of Emilio and Oscar Gutiérrez-Sot’s petitions seeking
asylum. Since that filing the Inter American Press Association, National Association of Hispanic
Journalists, and National Press Photographers Association have joined as amici.
2

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 II.

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT
Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto is unquestionably a professional journalist who reported on

government abuse in Mexico prior to being forced to flee his homeland. Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto was
honored last year for his body of work as a professional journalist by the National Press Club in
Washington D.C., one of the highest honors in professional journalism.
Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto’s courageous journalism also has earned him the credible fear of
persecution if he and his son were to return to Mexico.

There is abundant objective

corroborating evidence that Mexican journalists who have reported on government corruption
are the targets of reprisals and violent, often fatal, attacks. The U.S. State Department has
authoritatively declared that “Mexico [is] the most dangerous place in the world to be a journalist
outside of war zones,” with “the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights record[ing] 15
killings [of journalists in Mexico from January 2017] as of November 2017.” Indeed, according
to the State Department, “journalists [in Mexico] are threatened by public and law enforcement
officials, including the military, merely for reporting on issues they deem critical.” The State
Department report further establishes that those who persecute journalists in Mexico are never
brought to justice, and reprisals against journalists have increased as a result of recent legislation
in Mexico. As a result of the widespread international press attention the Gutiérrez-Sotos’ case
has appropriately garnered, the threat to their personal safety in Mexico is far greater now than it
was when they initially sought asylum in 2008.
The United States Department of Justice Board of Immigration Appeals has stayed any
removal or deportation proceedings pending resolution of the Gutiérrez-Sotos’ asylum petitions.
That is why there is no reason whatsoever for this brave father and son to be detained

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 indefinitely, as they pose no danger to society or of any flight risk. The Gutiérrez-Sotos have
fully complied with all of ICE’s demands and requests for the past ten years, and they have
formed strong community ties—with expressions of support from multiple local and national
organizations, members of Congress, major newspapers, and the Bishop of El Paso, Texas, who
has labeled this country’s treatment of the Gutiérrez-Sotos’ “morally wrong.”
There is no basis, in law or basic human decency, for the treatment that Emilio and Oscar
Gutiérrez-Soto have received at the hands of ICE. Emilio is an internationally acclaimed First
Amendment hero, not a criminal. He and his son should be freed from jail immediately.
III.

ARGUMENT
A.

Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto was unquestionably a professional journalist in Mexico.
1.

Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto published multiple articles under his byline with
El Diario del Noroeste of Nuevo Casas Grandes, Ascencion Edition.

Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto published multiple articles under his byline with El Diario del
Noroeste of Nuevo Casas Grandes, Ascencion Edition. Informacion Procesada, which operates
under the trade name “Inpro”, began its operations in 1976 and maintains an online database of
reports, articles and analysis provided by the local press in the Mexican state of Chihuahua.
[Exh. A, Declaration of Molly Molloy, p. 2]. The library at New Mexico State University
maintains a subscription with Inpro. [Id.]
On March 13, 2018, New Mexico State University librarian Molly Molloy performed a
search in Inpro for all articles authored by Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto from January 1, 2003 to
December 31, 2011. [Id. at p. 3] 3 The search resulted in 144 articles, including more than 100

3

Professor Molloy performed a similar search that produced similar results on or about the time
of Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto’s original immigration hearing. While she discussed the search results
during her testimony, she was never requested to produce the actual reports that she found in
either Spanish or translated in English. [Exh. A, Declaration of Molly Molloy, p. 3].
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 articles published between 2003 and 2008. 4 [Id.] Importantly, the search performed in Inpro
does not contain every article published by Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto. [Id. at pp. 3-4]
Inpro, like other online aggregators of news content, is not an all-inclusive repository of
the news. Rather, local newspaper content like that Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto published in El Diario
del Noroeste of Nuevo Casas Grandes, Ascencion Edition did not receive the same treatment by
Inpro as articles published in the flagship publications like El Diario de Ciudad Juarez, El
Diario de Chihuahua or El Diario de El Paso. [Id. at p. 3] El Diario del Noroeste of Nuevo
Cases Grandes is one of many small local papers that make up the El Diario family whose
articles are occasionally printed in the flagship publications. [Id.] Inpro maintains the most
complete library of articles published in El Diario’s flagship publications but does not maintain a
full and complete database of the smaller publications like El Diario del Noroeste of Nuevo
Cases Grandes, Ascencion Edition. [Id.] As a result, the more than 100 articles found in the
limited Inrpo search is likely well short of the full list of articles published by Mr. GutiérrezSoto. Indeed, amici have discovered the hard copy of one of Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto’s articles that
was not discovered during Professor Molloy’s search. See [Exhibit B].
These articles include accounts of the dangers facing journalists and the people of
Mexico that were not previously translated and certified. For example, Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto
reported on the assault on hotel guests by the Mexican military on January 30-31, 2005.
Gutiérrez-Soto, Asaltan un Hotel en Palomas, EL DIARIO, at p. A10, (January 30, 2005);

4

Due to time constraints, amici have not been able to translate each of the 144 articles that make
up the part of Exhibit A in this brief. Regardless, amici note that the listing of the results of the
search performed by Professor Molloy clearly states the date of the search, the name for which
Professor Molloy searched and that “the initial search screen showing the publication dates and
headlines [displayed] 144 articles.” [Id. at p. 3]. This Court can and should take judicial notice
of these articles and translations submitted as part of amici’s brief. See Fed R. Evid. 201(b).

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 Gutiérrez-Soto, Asaltan Militares a Huespedes de Hotel en Palomas, EL DIARIO, at p. A8,
(January 31, 2005). 5 As part of that reporting, Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto wrote that the guests who had
been assaulted were being detained and that others were scared to speak out against the attack.
Gutiérrez-Soto, Asaltan un Hotel en Palomas, EL DIARIO, at p. A10, (January 30, 2005). 6
Following this report, another report was published regarding the Mexican military actions
threatening Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto for his February 10, 2005 El Diario Northwest Chihuahua article,
attributed to “Editorial Staff,” and headlined “Members of the Military Threaten Reporter’s Life;
High Ranking Officers Warn Journalist After Publication of Assault and Robbery on Hotel in
Palomas.” See Written Decision and Order of the Immigration Judge at pp. 13 -15; see also Exh.
2F presented during immigration hearing (“The death threats against Emilio Gutiérrez Soto,
expressed in a direct manner with the intention of frightening the reporter and discouraging his
journalistic work, constitutes an extreme situation that is just one step away from being carried
out in the future . . .”). Notably, this was not the first time that Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto reported on
Mexican military and police activity in the region. Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto also wrote another news
article about an ex-cop turned fugitive who had been missing for almost six years on May 5,
2006. Gutiérrez-Soto, Cae ex policia por secquestro de hace casi 6 anos, EL DIARIO, at p. A13,
(May 30, 2006). 7
5

Professor Molloy’s affidavit establishes, to the extent that the reports are not already selfauthenticating, the authenticity of Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto’s journalism. Fed. R. Evid. 902(6). These
articles have likewise been translated and certified by Professor Molloy. [Exh. A, ¶ 2]. A true
and correct copy of the translated version of the January 30, 2015 article has been attached as
part of Exhibit A. [Id.]. As noted in the translator’s note, the article that appeared on January
31, 2015 is essentially the same as the January 30, 2015 article. [Id.]
6

A true and correct copy of this article has been attached as part of Exhibit A. [Id.]

7

A true and correct copy of this article translated by Professor Molloy has been attached as part
of Exhibit A. [Id.].

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 Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto also reported generally on the violence in the region. On February
15, 2006, he wrote an article about the shooting of two police officers with an AK-47 in the
downtown area of Ascension. Gutiérrez-Soto, Rafaguean con “cuerno de chivo” a patrulleros,
EL DIARIO, at p. A5, (Feb. 15, 2006). 8 On March 6, 2007, Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto reported on the
discovery of the body of a fellow journalist located days after he had been killed. Gutiérrez-Soto
& Rodriguez, Hallan Muerto a Periodista Sonorense en Chihuaua, El Diario, at p. A1, (Apr. 24,
2007). 9 On August 16, 2007, Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto reported on the seizure of three long-arm
firearms and a thousand cartridges of ammunition by the Mexican government in Ascension.
Gutiérrez-Soto, Decomisan tres armas largas y mil cartuchos, EL DIARIO, at p. A8 (Aug. 16,
2007). 10
It is indisputable Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto published numerous articles examining the violence
occurring throughout Mexico as well as the actions of the Mexican military and government. He
did so as a staff reporter for the local newspaper in the community where he lived. His reporting
put him squarely in the public eye and exposed him to grave danger. See infra III.B.
2.

Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto’s work as a journalist has received the praise and
admiration of his international colleagues.

Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto has received significant recognition for his service to the Mexican
people while working as a professional journalist.

On October 4, 2017, he accepted the

prestigious John Aubuchon Award for Press Freedom (“NPC Press Freedom Award”) from the

8

A true and correct copy of this article translated by Professor Molloy has been attached as part
of Exhibit A. [Exh. A, ¶ 2].
9

A true and correct copy of this article translated by Professor Molloy has been attached as part
of Exhibit A. [Id.].
10

A true and correct copy of this article translated by Professor Molloy has been attached as part
of Exhibit A. [Id.].

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 National Press Club on behalf of all Mexican journalists. [DE No. 1-17, pp. 47-48, ¶¶ 1-4].
Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto received the honor in recognition of “the great personal danger that he
endured exposing corruption in Mexico” and “to put a spotlight on the dangerous working
conditions for journalists in Mexico, as well as the courageous reporting by Mexican journalists
in the face of threats and intimidation by cartels and the military.” [Id. at ¶ 2]. Mr. GutiérrezSoto stated during his acceptance speech that he and his colleagues in Mexico “find ourselves
immersed in a great darkness” in recognition of the dangers journalists face in Mexico. See [Id.
at p. 48, ¶ 5]. Past winners of the award include Jason Rezaian of The Washington Post, Lara
Logan of CBS News, Khadija Ismayilova of Radio Free Europe and Austin Tice, who remains
missing in Syria. [Id. at ¶ 4].
Upon hearing that the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained Mr.
Gutiérrez-Soto, National Press Club Executive Director William C. McCarren began an online
petition at Change.org titled “#Free Emilio: Do Not Deport Award-Winning Journalist Emilio
Gutiérrez to Mexico” that has garnered almost 100,000 signatures in support of Mr. GutiérrezSoto’s request for asylum. See [Id. at ¶ 7]. Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto’s detention has likewise received
national attention. In December 2017, multiple news organizations including The Washington
Post and The Texas Tribune, published reports about Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto’s case in further
recognition of his journalism career and his plight. See [Id. at pp. 48-49, ¶¶ 8-11]. 11 Mr.

11

See Nick Miroff, Denied asylum and facing deportation, Mexican journalist says he’ll be
killed
if
sent
home,
WASHINGTON POST,
Dec.
8,
2017,
available at
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/denied-asylum-and-facingdeportation-mexican-journalist-says-hell-be-killed-if-sent-home/2017/12/08/15e96746-dc4c11e7-b859-fb0995360725_story.html?utm_term=.10502cf2832c; Julian Aguilar, After years of
seeking asylum in U.S., a Mexican reporter and his son just narrowly escaped deportation, THE
TEXAS TRIBUNE (Dec. 8, 2017), available at https://www.texastribune.org/2017/12/08/afteryears-seeking-asylum-us-mexican-reporter-and-his-son-just-narrow/. For this Court’s ease of
reference, a copy of this and other material referenced in this brief and readily available online
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 Gutiérrez-Soto’s career as a journalist and his current situation has likewise received widespread
television attention. [Id. at pp. 49-50, ¶¶ 12-14].
In short, Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto’s bona fides as a professional journalist are indisputable.
The National Press Club, representing more than 3,000 members including journalists from
every major news organization, has recognized Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto not only as a reporter but one
who faces real and severe danger should he return to a country where persons who question the
military are often “disappeared” without a trace and with no accountability.
B.

As a result of Mr. Gutiérrez’s reporting on the Mexican government, Mr.
Gutiérrez-Soto and his son have a credible fear of persecution.
1.

There is abundant evidence that Mexican journalists who have
reported on government corruption face persecution (including
death), and that such crimes are committed with impunity.

The United States government has pointedly identified Mexico as the world’s most
dangerous place for journalists who report on corruption in government, including the military.
On February 2, 2018, the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
sent a letter to the Board of Immigration Appeals concerning Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto’s case. The
purpose of the letter was to address “the country context facing journalists in Mexico” and
“provide facts that may aid the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals in its review of this case.”
In its “country context” letter, the State Department wrote:
More journalists were killed in Mexico in 2017 than in any previous year, making
Mexico the most dangerous place in the world to be a journalist outside of war
zones. Mexican journalists were sometimes subjected to physical attacks,
harassment, and intimidation due to their reporting. Perpetrators of violence
against journalists continued to act with impunity with few reports of successful
investigation, arrest, or prosecution of suspects.
Reporters Without Borders put the number of Mexican reporters killed in 2017 at
and capable of being printed have been included in Exhibit C. Counsel has also included a
hyperlink to each of the cited materials when appropriate.

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 11. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights recorded 15
killings as of November 2017. Killings in 2017 occurred across the country
including in the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua,
Colima, Guerrero, Jalisco, Michoacan, Morelos, Sinaloa, Tlaxcala, and Veracruz.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports that 51 journalists have been
killed in Mexico since 2010.
Through this letter, the State Department—on behalf of the United States—also establishes that
Mexican journalists facing the greatest peril are those who, like Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto, report on
general abuses and corruption by federal and local government officials, including the military:
Reporting on the activity of transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) and
official corruption are particularly dangerous in some parts of the country, where
journalists can be subjected to physical attacks, harassment, and intimidation by
TCOs and corrupt state agents. On March 23, 2017, Miroslava Breach,
correspondent for the daily newspapers La Jornada and El Norte de Chihuahua
who reported on corruption and TCOs, was shot and killed as she was preparing
to take her son to school in Chihuahua City. Local politicians and a mayor may
have played a role in exposing her to the criminal elements that killed her.
International recognition has not shielded reporters from attacks. Javier Valdez,
another reporter who specialized in TCO exposés, was awarded the International
Press Freedom Award for heroic journalism by CPJ in 2011. On May 15, 2017,
Valdez was shot and killed near his office in Culiacan, Sinaloa. To date, no one
has been arrested or convicted for his killing.
In other instances, journalists are threatened by public and law enforcement
officials, including the military, merely for reporting on issues they deem critical.
According to an April 2017 report by Mexican NGO Article 19, public officials
were involved in fifty-one percent of the aggressions against journalists
committed between January and June 2017.
Finally, the State Department letter authoritatively establishes that Mexican federal government
programs designed to bring perpetrators to justice and protect journalists were largely
ineffectual, creating a nationwide culture of impunity:
The CPJ has ranked Mexico sixth in its global impunity index and reports 86
percent impunity for reporters killed in Mexico since 1992.
In 2006, the Mexican federal government created the Special Prosecutor’s Office
for Crimes against Freedom of Expression (FEADLE) to investigate crimes
against journalists and bring those cases to court. FEADLE has achieved three
convictions since its inception, none of which were related to homicides.
According to a 2017 Reporters Without Borders investigation, only ten percent of
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 cases involving crimes against journalists led to convictions. The Reporters
Without Borders report concluded FEADLE lacks the personnel, funding, and
political will to deal effectively with these cases.
The federal and state governments have set up programs (known as
“mechanisms”) to offer protections to journalists whose lives are believed to be at
risk. The mechanisms can provide surveillance cameras, police escorts and
patrols, and portable panic buttons to notify the police in the event of an attack.
NGOs and journalists continue to criticize the federal and state mechanisms as
underfunded, ineffective, and lacking political support. One journalist killed was
under the federal protection mechanism at the time of his death.
David Kaye and Edison Lanza, Special Rapporteurs on freedom of expression for
the United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
respectively, issued a statement in December 2017 criticizing Mexico’s record in
protecting journalists . . . and calling on the government to redouble its efforts to
end attacks on reporters and bring perpetrators to justice.
The State Department’s letter, quoted above, cites the preliminary report issued by David
Kaye and Edison Lanza, Special Rapporteurs on freedom of expression for the United Nations
and Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (Kaye/Lanza Report). In that report, just
issued in December 2017 [Exh. C, pp. 253-67] the authors found that:
Mexico faces a profound security crisis severely affecting the human rights of its
people. At the heart of the crisis is a breakdown in the rule of law and governance
at local levels across the country, simultaneously leading to and exacerbated by
murders, disappearances and torture. The suffering is widespread, yet the
violence has often singled out those most essential to telling the story of conflict
and insecurity, corruption and criminality: journalists. It is violence with a
particularly political purpose, a widespread attack on the roots of democratic life
in Mexico, at local, state and national levels. During our week in Mexico, we
heard repeated stories of killings and disappearances, physical and psychological
attacks on the media, and other forms of interference designed not only to harm
individual journalists but the public’s right to know.
[Id. ¶ 8] (emphasis added). The report also provided data concerning the killing of journalists in
Mexico:
No single system obtains and collects data on attacks against journalists. The
National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) does not collect data on
this, and the criteria and methodology for obtaining such data differs between and
among federal and state institutions. The data gathered by the National Human
Rights Commission presents a picture for the situation of journalists in Mexico

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 that cannot be described as other than catastrophic. Since 2010, 73 journalists
have been killed; 12 journalists have been subject of enforced disappearances,
while there have been 44 attempted killings. Since 2006, the National Human
Rights Commission has registered 52 attacks against media outlets. So far in
2017, at least 11 journalists have been killed. They are Cecilio Pineda, Ricardo
Monlui, Miroslava Breach, Maximino Rodriguez, Filiberto Alvarez, Javier Arturo
Valdez, Salvador Adame, Hector Jonathan Rodriguez, Candido Rios, Juan Carlos
Hernandez and Edgar Daniel Esqueda. Many of the attacks are carried out against
journalists reporting on corruption, trafficking, involvement of public authorities
with organized crime, police violence and on matters related to elections.
[Id. ¶ 18]. The U.N. Rapporteurs also found that government efforts, at both the state and federal
level, designed to protect journalists from violence, had been ineffectual:
The specialized mechanisms of accountability, at federal and state levels, have not
delivered results, leading to increased frustration. Indeed, impunity for crimes is
the general rule in cases of reported journalist killings and disappearances.
[Id.] (emphasis added).
When these crimes are not investigated and those responsible are not brought to
justice, the culture of impunity is created, which in turn can embolden
perpetrators. Impunity deprives victims and families of justice, but it also fuels
further violence.
[Id. at ¶ 11]. And further:
The impunity for killings and other attacks against journalists has been
documented by government institutions and civil society organizations,
suggesting that at least 99.6% of these crimes remain unsolved. It is
unconscionable that the Mexican Government has failed to determine the
circumstances in which at least twenty journalists have disappeared, locate their
whereabouts and prosecute those responsible.
[Id. at ¶ 33]. Finally, the report noted that with violence against Mexican journalists on the rise
in 2017, the danger to journalists can only be expected to further increase in 2018 because of the
national elections set to take place:
We close this introductory section with one note of added urgency. 2018, it was
repeatedly emphasized to us, will bring to Mexico a nationwide set of elections, at
federal and state levels. The elections, and the political tension they will bring,
heighten the need for security of journalists, without which the country could
suffer significant loss of information and public debate.

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 [Id. at ¶ 14].
These official United Nations findings are corroborated by research data compiled by
numerous non-governmental civil and human rights organizations. See, e.g., Freedom House,
2017

report

on

violence

against

journalists

in

Mexico,

available

at

https://freedomhouse.org/print/49607, Committee to Protect Journalists, No Excuse: Mexico must
break

cycle

of

impunity

in

journalists’

murders,

(May

3,

2017),

available

https://cpj.org/reports/2017/05/no-excuse-mexico-impunity-journalist-murder.php; 12

at

Reporters

Without Borders, Mexico, available at https://rsf.org/en/mexico; David Argen, Mexican
journalist shot dead at son’s school Christmas pageant, THE GUARDIAN (Dec. 19, 2017),
available at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/19/mexican-journalist-killed-schoolchristmas-pageant-gumaro-perez-aguilando; 13

Amnesty

International,

Mexico

Human

Rights/Continued Police and Military Violence; Assaults on Human Rights Defenders, available
at https://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/mexico; 14

Amnesty International, Mexico: Fifth

journalist killed this year in sickening assault on freedom of expression, available at
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/05/mexico-quinto-homicidio-de-un-periodista-enel-ano-la-libertad-de-expresion-bajo-amenaza/; 15 Human Rights Watch, World Report 2018,
available at https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2018/country-chapters/mexico; 16 Washington
Office on Latin America (“WOLA”), Statement on Violence Against Journalists and Human

12

A copy of this article has been attached as part of Exhibit C. [Exh. 1 to Exh. C, pp. 157-60].

13

A copy of this article has been attached as part of Exhibit C. [Id. at pp. 99-101].

14

A copy of this article has been attached as part of Exhibit C. [Id. at pp. 36-40].

15

A copy of this article has been attached as part of Exhibit C. [Id. at pp. 120-21].

16

A copy of this article has been attached as part of Exhibit C. [Id. at pp. 102-13].

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 Rights Defenders in Mexico, (Dec. 19, 2017), https://www.wola.org/2017/12/wolas-statementviolence-journalists-human-rights-defenders-mexico; Elisabeth Witchel, Getting Away With
Murder/CPJ’s 2017 Global Immunity Index Spotlights Countries Where Journalists Are Slain
And The Killers Go Free, COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS (Oct. 31, 2017) (reporting, for
Mexico: “Journalists killed with complete impunity in past decade: 21”), available at
https://cpj.org/reports/2017/10/impunity-index-getting-away-with-murder-killed-justice.php#6; 17
Emma Daly, Journalists at Risk, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH (Nov. 2, 2016), available at
https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/11/02/journalists-risk; Pedro Pardo, Impunity and Attacks on
Journalists

in

Mexico,

STRATFOR,

(Dec.

13,

2017),

available

at

https://marcom.stratfor.com/horizons/fellows/dr-john-p-sullivan/13122017-impunity-andattacks-journalists-mexico; 18 Woodrow Wilson Center, Dying for a Story: How Impunity and
Violence

Against

Mexican

Journalists

are

Weakening

the

Country,

available

at

https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/dying-for-story-how-impunity-and-violence-againstmexican-journalists-are-weakening-the; 19 Eric L. Olson & Gina Hinojosa, La Impunidad Sigue:
Violence Against Journalists in Mexico, WOODROW WILSON CENTER (May 17, 2017), available
at

https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/la-impunidad-sigue-violence-against-journalists-

mexico; 20 International Federation of Journalists, Journalists & media staff killed list in 2017,
available at http://ifj-safety.org/en/2017/killings/killed (reporting Mexico as the country with the

17

A copy of this article has been attached as part of Exhibit C. [Exh. 1 to Exh. C, pp. 41-54].

18

A copy of this article has been attached as part of Exhibit C. [Id. at pp. 60-63].

19

A copy of this article has been attached as part of Exhibit C. [Id. at pp. 29-33].

20

A copy of this article has been attached as part of Exhibit C. [Id. at pp. 94-96].

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 highest number of killings worldwide during 2017 at thirteen); 21 Steven M. Ellis, Mexico most
deadly country for journalists in 2017, INTERNATIONAL PRESS INSTITUTE (Dec. 19, 2017),
available at https://ipi.media/mexico-most-deadly-country-for-journalists-in-2017/. 22
The danger facing journalists in Mexico remains as grave in 2018 as it was in 2017. So
far this year, three journalists have been killed, the most recent of which was the murder of
reporter Leobardo Vazquez, who ran the online news site Enlace Informative Regional in
Veracruz, on March 21, 2018. See Associated Press, Journalist Killed in Mexican State of
Veracruz,

N.Y.

TIMES,

Mar.

22,

2018,

available

at

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/22/world/americas/mexico-journalist-killed.html.
2.

The Mexican military is a leading perpetrator of violence against
journalists throughout Mexico and has recently officially immunized
from sanctions for such attacks.

The documented human rights abuses by the Mexican government are regularly
committed by the Mexican military, whose members enjoy complete impunity. See, e.g., State
Dept. Letter of February 2, 2018 (“[J]ournalists are threatened by public and law enforcement
officials, including the military”). For the past decade, Mexico has relied heavily on its military
to fight drug-related violence and organized crime, leading to widespread human rights
violations by military personnel, including killings, enforced disappearances, rape, torture, and
other human rights abuses. See Christina Maza, Mexican Military, Backed by U.S. Anti-Drug
Funds, is Raping and Killing and Getting Away With It, NEWSWEEK (Nov. 8, 2017) (reporting
that military officials have been accused of torture, sexual violence, extrajudicial execution, and
forced disappearances), available at http://www.newsweek.com/mexico-human-rights-military21

A copy of this article has been attached as part of Exhibit C. [Exh. 1 to Exh. C, pp. 64-79].

22

A copy of this article has been attached as part of Exhibit C. [Id. at pp. 114-19].

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 war-drugs-rape-torture-execution-us-complicit-705187. 23 Violations often go unpunished, and a
culture of impunity with a complete lack of transparency is prevalent as the Mexican military
wages its war on drugs. Id.; see also WOLA, Overlooking Justice/Human Rights Violations
Committed by Mexican Soldiers Against Civilians Are Met With Impunity (Nov. 2017); Laurie
Freeman, “Troubling Patterns/The Mexican Military and the War on Drugs,” LATIN AMERICAN
WORKING GROUP.
Human rights abuses by soldiers are never prosecuted by the military, investigations of
military crimes by civilian law enforcement agencies are rare, and prosecutions even rarer. As
the Associated Press reported on November 7, 2017:
The vast majority of human rights abuses allegedly committed by soldiers waging
Mexico’s war on drug gangs go unsolved and unpunished despite reforms letting
civilian authorities investigate and prosecute such crimes, a report said Tuesday.
The Washington Office on Latin America study, described as the first
comprehensive analysis of military abuse investigations handled by the Attorney
General’s Office, found there were just 16 convictions of soldiers in the civilian
judicial system out of 505 criminal investigations from 2012 through 2016, a
prosecutorial success rate of 3.2 percent.
Moreover, there were only two “chain of command responsibility” convictions for
officers whose orders led to abuses, it said.
The report said factors that hinder civilian investigations of the military include
parallel civilian and military probes, limited access to troops’ testimony and
soldiers tampering with crime scenes or giving false testimony.
Peter Orsi, Report: Rights abuses by Mexican military largely unpunished, SEATTLE TIMES,
(Nov. 7, 2017), available at https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/report-rights-abuses-bymexican-military-largely-unpunished/; 24 see also World Report 2017: Mexico, Human Rights
Watch,

Military

Abuses

and

Impunity,

available

at

https://www.hrw.org/world-

23

A copy of this article has been attached as part of Exhibit C. [Exh. 1 to Exh. C, pp. 178-87].

24

A copy of this article has been attached as part of Exhibit C. [Id. at pp. 133-39].

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 report/2017/country-chapters/mexico (“Mexico has relied heavily on the military to fight drugrelated violence and organized crime, leading to widespread human rights violations by military
personnel.”). Human Rights Watch reported that “[a]s of July, the CNDH [National Human
Rights Commission] had received almost 10,000 complaints of abuse by the army since 2006—
including more than 2,000 during the current administration.” World Report 2017: Mexico,
Human Rights Watch, Military Abuses and Impunity. Moreover, “[i]t found in more than 100
cases that military personnel committed serious human rights violations.” Id.; see also WOLA
Research and Summary Reports, supra; Ted Lewis, Mexico’s Military in the Eye of Ayotzinapa
Storm, HUFFINGTON POST, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/ted-lewis/mexicos-military-in-thee_b_6190118.html. 25
Rather than attempting to rein in the unbridled human rights abuses by the Mexican
military, the Mexican government’s legislative branch did just the opposite. In late 2017, it
vested the Mexican military with the general power of law enforcement and security in Mexico
and granted it jurisdiction over the entire civilian population of the country. 26 See WOLA,
Mexico Congress Approves Law Empowering Military to Act as Police; WOLA, By
Strengthening Military’s Role in Fighting Crime, Mexico’s Proposed Security Law Will Worsen
Human Rights Abuses and Harm Transparency. This statute, signed into law by Mexico’s
President in December 2017, authorizes the military to intervene in “public security matters in
order to combat and eradicate national security risks to the country.” Mariana Sanchez Ramirez,
25

A copy of this article has been attached as part of Exhibit C. [Exh. 1 to Exh. C., pp. 122-25].

26

It is appropriate for this Court recognize that the Board of Immigration Appeals should take
administrative notice of a changed legal regime or a significant change in the law that occurred
subsequent to the Immigration Judge’s ruling. In re: R-R-, 20 I&N Dec. 547, 551 n.3 (BIA 1992)
(internal citations omitted) (“[T]his Board may properly take administrative notice of changes in
foreign governments.”); see also In re: S-E-G-, 24 I&N Dec. 579, 587 n.4 (BIA 2008) (taking
administrative notice of the most recent State Department country report).

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 Infographic: Mexico’s Internal Security Law, WOODROW WILSON CENTER, (Feb. 5, 2018),
available at https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/infographic-mexicos-internal-security-law. 27
3.

There is a much greater threat to the Petitioners’ personal safety now
than when they initially sought asylum.

At the time they filed their asylum petitions, the Gutiérrez-Sotos unquestionably faced a
credible fear of persecution as a result of Emilio’s published news reports documenting abuses
by the Mexican military. See, e.g., Lise Olsen, Reporting on Border Exacts Toll; Courageous
Journalists Risk All for Readers, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, Nov. 23, 2008 (reporting on November
13, 2008 murder of El Diario’s crime reporter Armando Rodriguez, who was shot dead in a
company car in front of his home as he prepared to drive his daughter to school). As the
Houston Chronicle recognized, this constant threat against reporters caused many to abandon
their jobs and flee their homes to seek safety. Id. (“In a disturbing story El Diario published last
Sunday that was signed only ‘Staff,’ the newspaper reported that many other Juarez journalists
have changed jobs, abandoned beats, or left their homes because of the violence.”).
The dire situation facing Emilio and Oscar Gutiérrez-Soto in 2008 has greatly escalated
since that time.

See supra Part III.B.2 (explaining how recently enacted legislation has

immunized the Mexican military for their human rights violations and atrocities).
In addition to the dramatic worsening in conditions for Mexican journalists generally
since 2008, the danger to Petitioners’ personal safety is also far worse now as a result of the
international notoriety that Emilio’s case has achieved. Major newspapers, whose websites are
available in Mexico, have editorialized in support of Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto’s asylum petition,
including The Washington Post, the Houston Chronicle, and The Denver Post. 28 Petitioners have
27

A copy of this article has been attached as part of Exhibit C. [Exh. 1 to Exh. C, pp. 55-59].

28

See Editorial, Plight of Mexican Journalist Is Why Trump Should Rethink Immigration Policy,

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 been the subject of literally hundreds of news reports and other postings on the internet, all
readily available in Mexico, identifying Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto as a courageous former journalist
who published reports critical of the Mexican military’s actions, and who faced reprisals
including a credible threat to his life, before fleeing to the United States. See, e.g., Results from
Google Search for Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto, available at https://www.google.com/search?ei=9_pWuWkDoiWsgWg-pfwAw&q=Emilio+Gutierrez-Soto&oq=Emilio+Gutierrez-Soto&gs_l=psyab.3..0.34321.38834.0.39520.21.15.0.6.6.0.152.1075.14j1.15.0....0...1c.1.64.psyab..0.21.1164...46j0i67k1j0i131k1j0i131i46k1j46i131k1j0i131i67k1j0i46k1j0i22i30k1.0.PmEIV
E-mFsM; 29 see also [Exh. C, pp. 440-527] (compilation of press reports about the Respondents,
including Democracy Now, CJR, New York Times, etc.). Not only have multiple international
journalism organizations lauded Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto for his reporting in 2008, 30 but he has, in
more recent internationally-distributed press reports, publicly accused the Mexican government
HOUSTON
CHRONICLE
(Dec.
26,
2017),
available
at
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/Plight-of-Mexican-journalist-iswhy-Trump-should-12455618.php?cmpid=gsa-chron-result; Editorial, America Can Support
Democracy by Helping Mexican Journalists, DENV. POST (Feb. 16, 2018), available at
https://www.denverpost.com/2018/02/16/america-can-support-democracy-by-helping-mexicanjournalists; see also Tatyana Monnay, Opinion, By Deporting Emilio Gutiérrez Soto, the U.S.
Would Go against the Pillars of Its Own Society, THE MANEATER (Feb. 23, 2018) , available at
https://www.themaneater.com/stories/opinion/by-deporting-emilio-gutiérrez-soto,-the-u.s.would-go-against-the-pillars-of-its-own-society.
29

A copy of the search results has been attached as part of Exhibit C. [Exh. 1 to Exh. C, pp. 3435].
30

Among the press organizations who have expressed support for Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto are
Reporters Without Borders, The National Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists,
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, Radio Television Digital News Organization, Military
Reporters and Editors, Society of American Business Editors and Writers, National Association
of Hispanic Journalists, National Association of Black Journalists, National Photographers
Association, PEN America, Asian American Journalists Association, Writers Guild of America,
East, The Alicia Patterson Foundation, Online News Organization, American Society of News
Editors, Association of Alternative Newsmedia, Committee to Protect Journalists, and Reporters
Committee for Freedom of the Press.

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 of having targeted him for reprisal. See, e.g., Will Weissert, Mexican Journalist Asks Judge for
US Asylum, BOSTON GLOBE (Jan. 21, 2011) (quoting Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto stating that “we fled
Mexico because the Mexican state was persecuting us”) (emphasis added), available at
http://archive.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/01/21/mexican_journalist_asks_judge_for_u
s_asylum/; 31 Philip Caputo, The Fall of Mexico, THE ATLANTIC, (Dec. 2009) (attributing this
recitation

of

events

to

Emilio

Gutiérrez

Soto),

available

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/12/the-fall-of-mexico/307760/. 32

at
Mr.

Gutiérrez-Soto’s mistreatment by the Mexican military also was depicted in great detail in a
bestselling book about the drug trade and Mexican government corruption, in which he is quoted.
See Charles Bowden, MURDER CITY: CIUDAD JUAREZ

AND THE

GLOBAL ECONOMY’S NEW

KILLING FIELDS (2010) (available for purchase at https://www.amazon.com/Murder-City-CiudadEconomys-Killing-ebook/dp/B0038ZR0K2 ). 33
In light of the extensive international press attention the Gutiérrez-Sotos’ plight and
statements have received, the fate they would suffer upon a forced return to Mexico could not be
clearer. In short, they have a far more “well-founded fear of persecution” on account of their
protected status now than they did when they applied for asylum in 2008.
C.

To deny Petitioners asylum would be an egregious break with this Nation’s longstanding commitment to provide refuge to journalists from foreign lands who are
the targets of reprisal.
Our Nation’s profound commitment to freedom of the press, political speech and dissent

has, for many years now, extended to those from foreign lands who come to our shores seeking

31

A copy of this article has been attached as part of Exhibit C. [Exh. C, pp. 97-98].

32

A copy of this article has been attached as part of Exhibit C. [Id. at pp. 140-54].

33

A copy of this website has been attached as part of Exhibit C. [Id. at pp. 126-32].

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 refuge from physical danger abroad. People like Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Joseph Stalin’s
daughter, both of whom authored works critical of their governments, were embraced and
protected by our nation, as part of our commitment to these foundational principles. During
World War II, a group of exiles from France in New York City founded the publication FranceAmérique to raise awareness about Occupied France in the United States, and to support the
Resistance movement led by Charles de Gaulle.
More recently, the United States has granted asylum to Mexican journalists Jorge Luis
Aguirre, 34 Ricardo Chavez Aldana, 35 Hector Salazar, 36 Alejandro Hernandez Pacheco, 37 and
Mexican author Dolores Dorantes 38 because they, too, had well-founded fears of persecution as a
result of their publications critical of the Mexican government.

34

Olga R. Rodriguez and Paul J. Weber, Threatened Mexican Journalist Receives Asylum,
NBCNEWS.COM
(Sept.
23,
2010),
available
at
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/39334585/ns/us_news-life/t/threatened-mexican-journalist-receivesasylum/#.WqoITZUzVD8. A copy of this article has been attached as part of Exhibit C. [Exh. 1
to Exh. C, pp. 155-56].
35

Diana Washington Valdez, Juárez Journalist Fleeing Violence Granted Asylum, EL PASO
TIMES (Oct. 5, 2015), available at https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/2015/10/05/jurezjournalist-fleeing-violence-wins-asylum/73422372/. A copy of this article has been attached as
part of Exhibit C. [Exh. 1 to Exh. C, pp. 161-62].
36

Laressa Washington, Mexican Journalist Granted Political Asylum in Denver, Denver Post
(Sept.
29,
2011)
available
at
https://www.pressreader.com/usa/the-denverpost/20110929/282690453934775. A copy of this article has been attached as part of Exhibit C.
[Exh. 1 to Exh. C, pp. 163-64].
37

Astri Agopian, Project Exile: After Cartel Kidnapping, Mexican Cameraman Fled to U.S.,
GLOBAL JOURNALIST, (Feb. 9, 2018), available at http://globaljournalist.org/2018/02/projectexile-after-cartel-kidnapping-mexican-cameraman-fled-to-u-s/. A copy of this article has been
attached as part of Exhibit C. [Exh. 1 to Exh. C, pp. 165-77].
38

Harriet Staff, Dolores Dorantes Granted Asylum, Impacts L.A., POETRY FOUNDATION (June
24, 2015), available at https://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2015/06/dolores-dorantesgranted-asylum-impacts-la. A copy of the article has been attached as part of Exhibit C. [Exh. 1
to Exh. C, pp. 26-28].

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 In short, denying Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto and his son asylum would be an egregious break
in this country’s long-standing record of protecting foreigners, including journalists, who speak
truth to power, notwithstanding the real dangers they faced by doing so.
D.

Petitioners should be released from detention while their asylum claims are pending.
Not only do amici support Emilio and Oscar Gutiérrez’s meritorious petitions for asylum,

amici have also called for Petitioners to be released from detention while their asylum claims are
being adjudicated.
Mexican

See, e.g., Julián Aguilar, O’Rourke, national press association call for

reporter’s

release,

Texas

Tribune

(Dec.

22,

2017),

https://www.texastribune.org/2017/12/22/orourke-national-press-association-call-mexicanreporters-release/; 39 Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ urges U.S. immigration authorities to
grant parole to Emilio Gutiérrez Soto (Feb. 6, 2018) https://cpj.org/2018/02/cpj-urges-usimmigration-authorities-to-grant-paro.php; 40 PEN America, The United States Must Be A Safe
Haven For Journalists Like Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto (Mar. 21, 2018) (quoting PEN America’s
Director of Research and Policy Katy Glenn Bass: “We . . . call on ICE to release him and his
son from detention immediately.”).
As demonstrated above, Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto was driven from his home and the country
of his birth by credible death threats prompted by his courageous work as a professional
journalist. Fearing for his life, Emilio fled, with his then 15-year old son, to the Antelope Wells
crossing station, where Emilio and Oscar presented themselves to U.S. immigration officials as
refugees seeking asylum. They were then taken to the Port of Entry in Columbus, New Mexico.
Subsequently, their asylum petitions were deemed sufficiently credible for the United States

39

A copy of this article has been attached as part of Exhibit C. [Exh. 1 to Exh. C, pp. 276-79].

40

A copy of this article has been attached as part of Exhibit C. [Id. at pp. 280-83].

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 government to grant them admission into the United States, and (after several months of
detention) to live freely among its citizens, while their asylum petitions were adjudicated. That
was nine years ago.
Prior to their detention in December 2017, for nearly ten years, the Gutiérrez-Sotos lived
peacefully, and lawfully, 41 in Las Cruces, New Mexico, forging close bonds with their
community. The Gutiérrez-Sotos have fully complied with all requests and demands of ICE
throughout their asylum application process. Following the immigration judge’s adverse ruling
on their asylum petition, in July 2017, the Gutiérrez-Sotos did not flee the jurisdiction or take
any steps other than to perfect their appeal and fully comply with the law.
Even though they posed no danger to anyone and were not a flight risk, on December 7,
2017, Emilio and Oscar were forcibly taken into custody by ICE officials and informed that they
were being deported to Mexico, immediately. They were placed in a van and driven from El
Paso towards Juarez, Mexico. That very day, their immigration lawyer secured an emergency
stay of deportation from the Board of Immigration Appeals. Emilio and Oscar have been held as
prisoners, from that day forward, now for four full months.
Amici are especially concerned that Petitioners were detained shortly after Mr. GutiérrezSoto’s public denunciation of this country’s immigration laws and the policies of the current
administration. See Nat’l Press Club, Emilio Gutierrez Accepts John Aubuchon Award at 2017
Fourth Estate Awards Dinner, Nat’l Press Club (Oct. 4, 2017) (quoting Emilio at the National
Press Club during which he accused the U.S. Government of “bartering away international
law”); Teresa Mioli, Mexican journalist left in ‘despair’ and ‘horror’ at detention center in

Oscar Gutiérrez-Soto pleaded no contest to a DWI offense in August 2017. See MurilliSalemoran v. INS, 327 F. 3d 898 (9th Cir. 2003) (holding that a conviction for a simple DWI is
not a grounds of inadmissibility).
41

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 Texas, as his lawyers fight to avoid deportation, Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas,
Aug. 1, 2017 (reporting Emilio’s public statement, in January 2017, that he is “very disappointed
in the immigration authorities, especially the policies the United States exercises”); see also
Democracy Now!, Pacifica Radio (Dec. 22, 2017) (Emilio’s comments, after he was detained, on
Democracy Now! nationally syndicated television and radio program, criticizing the U.S.
immigration laws and Department of Homeland Security’s refusal to recognize the danger
Mexican journalists face upon being returned there). Amici are also concerned that an ICE
official later instructed William McCarren of the National Press Club that he and other
supporters of the Gutiérrez-Soto’s asylum application should “tone it down.” See [DE No. 1-17,
p. 50, ¶ 15]
Detention of an individual seeking asylum merely because he has criticized our
government would violate fundamental rights protected by the First Amendment. Comments
regarding United States immigration policy and actions by ICE constitutes “core political
speech,” at the very heart of “the Freedom of Speech” protected by the First Amendment. See,
e.g., Stromberg v. California, 283 U. S. 359, 369 (1931) (“The maintenance of the opportunity
for free political discussion to the end that government may be responsive to the will of the
people and that changes may be obtained by lawful means . . . . is a fundamental principle of our
constitutional system.”); N.Y. Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 270 (1964) (“Those who won
our independence believed . . . that public discussion is a political duty, and that this should be a
fundamental principle of the American government. . . . Believing in the power of reason as
applied through public discussion, they eschewed silence coerced by law -- the argument of force
in its worst form.”) (quoting Whitney v. California, 274 U.S. 357, 375-76 (1927)); Id.
(recognizing our nation’s “profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public

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 issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open, and that it may well include vehement,
caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government”); Cf. Garrison v. Louisiana,
379 U.S. 64, 74-75 (1964) (“[S]peech concerning public affairs is more than self-expression; it is
the essence of self-government.”). As Attorney General of the United States Jeff Sessions has
recognized, the United States, unlike some foreign countries, should not be a place where
“openly criticizing the government . . .

could land you in jail or worse.”

Dep’t of

Justice, Attorney General Sessions Gives an Address on the Importance of Free Speech on
College Campuses (Sept. 26, 2017), https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/attorney-generalsessions-gives-address-importance-free-speech-college-campuses. 42
Every moment Emilio and Oscar Gutiérrez-Soto are detained, in violation of their
fundamental liberties, is an affront to our nation’s way of life. Cf. Nebraska Press Ass’n v.
Stuart, 427 U.S. 1327, 1329 (1975) (holding in prior restraint case that “each passing day” of
denial of free speech freedoms “may constitute a separate and cognizable infringement of the
First Amendment”). This Court should not allow their detention to continue; it should order ICE
to immediately release Emilio and Oscar Gutiérrez-Soto.
IV.

CONCLUSION
If the United States were to deny the Petitioners’ asylum petitions, our Nation would be

turning its back on its longstanding commitment to provide safe refuge to courageous journalists,
like Mr. Gutiérrez-Soto, who stand-up to oppressive governments. As important is the ultimate
resolution of their asylum petitions, so too is the manner in which our Nation treats these
lawfully present asylum seekers during the pendency of those petitions. It would be an affront to

A copy of these prepared remarks has been attached as part of Exhibit C. [Exh. 1 to Exh. C,
pp. 284-88].
42

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 this nation’s founding principles to deprive Emilio and Oscar Gutiérrez-Soto of their freedom for
one more day.
Dated: April 9, 2018

Respectfully submitted,
/s/ Mark A. Flores
Mark A. Flores
Littler Mendelson, P.C.
2001 Ross Avenue
Suite 1500, Lock Box 116
Dallas, TX 75201-2931
Phone: 214.880.8100
Fax: 214.880.0181
markflores@littler.com
OF COUNSEL
Charles D. Tobin
Ballard Spahr, LLP
1900 K Street, NW
12th Floor
Washington, DC 20006-1157
Phone: 202.661.2218
Fax: 202.661.2299
tobinc@ballardspahr.com
Steven D. Zansberg
Ballard Spahr, LLP
1225 17th Street, Suite 2300
Denver, CO 80202-5596
Phone: 303.292.2400
Fax: 303.296.3956
zansbergs@ballardspahr.com
Counsel for amici curiae

BRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE JOURNALIST
ORGANIZATIONS IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONERS

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 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
On April 9, 2018, the undersigned filed in the CM/ECF system for the Western District
of Texas this Brief of Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioners Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto’s and Oscar
Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto’s Petitions for a Writ of Habeas Corpus attached as an exhibit to its
Unopposed Motion of Journalist Organizations to File Brief of Amici Curiae in Support of
Petitioners Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto’s and Oscar Emilio Gutiérrez-Soto’s Petitions for a Writ of
Habeas Corpus resulting in electronic service of the foregoing to all counsel of record in these
actions.
/s/ Mark A. Flores
COUNSEL FOR AMICI CURIAE

BRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE JOURNALIST
ORGANIZATIONS IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONERS

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