As drug and gang violence in northern Mexico increases, KOB News reports that terrified resident–and even police officers–are fleeing across the border:

The police chief of a Mexican border town has requested asylum in the United States, where he told authorities his two officers have fled and he does not know their whereabouts.  The Luna County Sheriff’s Department and the U.S. Border Patrol say Emilio Perez of Palomas came to the port of entry at Columbus late Tuesday night, requesting political asylum.

In a related story, Fox Newsreports, “At least 30 residents of El Porvenir, located about four miles from the Texas border town of Fort Hancock, have crossed into the U.S. and asked for political asylum, telling authorities that they fear for their lives.”

Violence in Mexico seems to be spiraling out of control.  For this past Tuesday, the total 24-hour death toll for Tamaulipas was 18 people killed and four injured in the latest round of violence throughout the state.

Besides ramping up border enforcement, the U.S. will need to find a way to deal with refugees from Mexico’s drug war.  In March, the United Nations released a report examing asylum claims based on fear of persecution by criminal gangs: Guidance Note on Refugee Claims Relating to Victims of Organized Gangs.  A UNHCR press release describes the report:

Asylum claims in connection with activities of organized gangs have recently come to the fore in different parts of the world. The purpose of this Guidance Note is to assist adjudicators with the assessment of such claims and to ensure a consistent interpretation of the refugee definition. It presents a brief overview of gangs and their practices, as well as a typology of victims of gang-related violence. The Note also contains a brief analysis of the international legal framework, and builds on jurisprudential developments.

I worked on a gang case a few years ago where the Immigration Judge granted my client withholding of removal.  I think what impressed the Judge was the extreme violence of the gang (MS-13), and the real possibility that my client would be harmed or killed if he returned to his country.