米連邦控訴裁（サンフランシスコ）、HIV陽性のメキシコ人ゲイ男性を難民認定

Appeals Court Rules Gay Man Eligible For Asylum
by The Associated Press
Posted: August 14, 2005 12:01 am ET

(San Francisco, California) A federal appeals court has ruled that an AIDS-afflicted gay man who fled Mexico because he feared persecution is eligible for political asylum in the United States.

Friday's decision by the San Francisco-based Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reverses rulings by immigration courts that ordered the deportation of Jose Boer-Sedano, who claimed a police officer in Mexico had forced him to perform sex acts under threat of being outed or killed.

The three-judge panel said Boer-Sedano, 45, would likely face further abuse and have difficulty getting life-sustaining AIDS medication if he were sent back to Mexico, where the U.S. State Department has found that violence against gays is widespread.

The ruling is the latest by the San Francisco-based court in which it has granted refuge to gay or transgender asylum applicants from Latin America based on evidence of abuse inflicted or condoned by police.

"It really does mean that he'll be safe now," said Boer-Sedano's lawyer, Angela Bean, who said her client was overcome with emotion when he heard the news.

Boer-Sedano, who now works as a waiter and busboy at a San Francisco hotel, was ostracized by family and friends in the town of Tampico in the eastern Mexico state of Tamaulipas, and was later harassed by co-workers because of his homosexuality, the court said.

Boer-Sedano said in the late 1980s a high-ranking officer stopped him nine times over three months and forced him to perform oral sex. The officer threatened to expose his homosexuality, talked about killing him and once held a gun to his head.

Boer-Sedano came to San Francisco on a six-month visa in 1990, and his deportation proceedings began seven years later. An immigration judge denied his asylum claim, saying his encounters with the officer didn't amount to persecution.

But the appeals court ruled Friday that the assaults were clearly motivated by Boer-Sedano's homosexuality, and that the death threats constituted persecution by a government agent.



Special report
Aids and HIV
Gay Mexican man granted asylum in US
David Teather in New York
Monday August 15, 2005
The Guardian

A gay Mexican man with Aids has been granted asylum in the US after a judge ruled he would be in danger of persecution in his home country.
The appeals court in San Francisco overturned earlier rulings in a case that has been closely watched by human rights campaigners.

Jose Boer-Sedano, 45, has been fighting deportation for eight years. He entered the US on a six-month visa in 1990 and was discovered by immigration authorities in 1997.

The three-judge panel said he would probably face abuse in Mexico because of his sexuality and would have difficulty in getting treatment for his medical condition. The judges said reports from the US state department have found that violence against homosexual people remains widespread in Mexico.

Mr Boer-Sedano said he had fled to San Francisco after a local policeman in Tampico, Mexico, had forced him to perform sex acts under the threat of either killing or "outing" him.


from The Independent & The Independent on Sunday
15 August 2005 11:59 Home > News > World > Americas
Gay Mexican granted asylum in US over risk of persecution back home
By David Usborne in New York
Published: 15 August 2005

A federal appeals court in the United States has granted asylum to a homosexual man with Aids from Mexico on the grounds that if he was sent back to his country he could face persecution.

The ruling, which comes against the background of US State Department reports of widespread harassment of homosexuals in Mexico, overturned earlier rulings by American immigration courts which had insisted he be sent home.

Jose Boer-Sedano, 45, came to the US in 1990 on a six-month visa and has stayed ever since saying he dare not return to his home town of Tampico in the eastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas. He works in San Francisco as a waiter.

Mr Boer-Sedano said he had been stopped nine times by a senior police official in his town and forced to perform oral sex under threat of being exposed as gay. The police officer allegedly also spoke of having him killed.

"Despite his attempts to conceal his sexuality, others could perceive it and Boer-Sedano was ostracised by his family, friends, and co-workers on that basis," the court said. "His family refused to allow him to interact with other family members or his friends, fearing [he] would be a 'bad influence' on them."

The court has made similar rulings in other cases involving homosexual and transgender asylum-seekers from Central and Latin America, because of concerns they would face persecution at home inflicted or condoned by the police.

Since 1990 there has been some progress in establishing rights for homosexuals in Mexico. However, more general social acceptance is a far more distant prospect for gays and lesbians in Mexico than in the US.

A federal appeals court in the United States has granted asylum to a homosexual man with Aids from Mexico on the grounds that if he was sent back to his country he could face persecution.

The ruling, which comes against the background of US State Department reports of widespread harassment of homosexuals in Mexico, overturned earlier rulings by American immigration courts which had insisted he be sent home.

Jose Boer-Sedano, 45, came to the US in 1990 on a six-month visa and has stayed ever since saying he dare not return to his home town of Tampico in the eastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas. He works in San Francisco as a waiter.

Mr Boer-Sedano said he had been stopped nine times by a senior police official in his town and forced to perform oral sex under threat of being exposed as gay. The police officer allegedly also spoke of having him killed.

"Despite his attempts to conceal his sexuality, others could perceive it and Boer-Sedano was ostracised by his family, friends, and co-workers on that basis," the court said. "His family refused to allow him to interact with other family members or his friends, fearing [he] would be a 'bad influence' on them."

The court has made similar rulings in other cases involving homosexual and transgender asylum-seekers from Central and Latin America, because of concerns they would face persecution at home inflicted or condoned by the police.

Since 1990 there has been some progress in establishing rights for homosexuals in Mexico. However, more general social acceptance is a far more distant prospect for gays and lesbians in Mexico than in the US.


Last Updated: Saturday, 13 August 2005, 23:41 GMT 00:41 UK
Gay Mexican wins US asylum case - BBC

A court in the US has ruled that a gay Mexican with Aids is eligible for asylum because of the danger of persecution in his home country.

The appeals court in San Francisco overturned earlier rulings by immigration courts.

The three-judge panel said Jose Boer-Sedano, 45, would probably face further abuse in Mexico and have difficulty getting Aids treatment.

"It really does mean that he'll be safe now," said Mr Boer-Sedano's lawyer.

Angela Bean said her client was overcome with emotion at the court's decision.

Mr Boer-Sedano testified that in his home country he had been forced to perform sex acts by a police officer who threatened to kill him or expose his homosexuality.

'Bad influence'

He said he had been shunned by his family.

"Despite his attempts to conceal his sexuality, others could perceive it and Boer-Sedano was ostracised by his family, friends, and co-workers on that basis," the judges wrote in their judgement.

"His family refused to allow him to interact with other family members or his friends, fearing that Boer-Sedano would be a 'bad influence' on them."

The court said that the death threats by the police officer - Mr Boer-Sedano said he was stopped nine times in three months in the late 1980s - constituted persecution by a government agent.

Mr Boer-Sedano, who now works as a waiter in San Francisco, arrived in the city on a six-month visa in 1990, and remained for seven years before moves were made to return him to Mexico.

San Francisco's Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals has made several rulings granting asylum to gay or transsexual applicants from Latin America where it has found they have been abused by police.

The US state department has reported that in Mexico violence against homosexuals is widespread.


SAN FRANCISCO
Abused gay Mexican earns asylum in U.S.
- Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, August 13, 2005


An AIDS-afflicted gay man from Mexico, who fled to San Francisco after a local policeman forced him into sexual acts under threat of being outed or killed, is eligible for political asylum, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.

Reversing rulings by immigration courts that ordered Jose Boer-Sedano deported to Mexico, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said he had been a victim of persecution in his homeland and was likely to face further abuse, as well as a serious threat to his health, if he were sent back.

Reports by the U.S. State Department have found that violence against gays remains widespread in Mexico, and Boer-Sedano would also have difficulty getting life-sustaining medication, the court said.

The ruling is one of several by the San Francisco-based court in recent years granting refuge to gay or transgender applicants from Latin America based on evidence of abuse inflicted or condoned by police.

"It really does mean that he'll be safe now,'' said Boer-Sedano's lawyer, Angela Bean.

Boer-Sedano, now 45, works as a waiter and busboy at a San Francisco hotel. When she told him about the ruling, Bean said, Boer-Sedano was so overcome with emotion that he couldn't speak for a full minute.

Boer-Sedano knew he was gay at age 7 and was ostracized by his family and friends in the town of Tampico in the eastern Mexico state of Tamaulipas, and he later was taunted and harassed by co-workers, the court said.

He testified in immigration court that he and a friend were arrested in 1988 by a high-ranking police officer, who told them that they were held for being gay, even though that is not a crime in Mexico. The same officer stopped Boer-Sedano nine times over the next three months, drove him to a dark location and forced him to perform oral sex, the court said, quoting his testimony.

Boer-Sedano said the officer threatened to reveal his homosexuality to others, talked about killing him and once put a bullet in his gun, spun the chamber and held the weapon to Boer-Sedano's head.

Boer-Sedano moved to Monterrey, Mexico, stayed for a year, but left after lying about his homosexuality during a police raid. He came to San Francisco on a six-month visa in 1990 and was diagnosed with HIV in 1992 and later with AIDS. Deportation proceedings began in 1997.

His asylum claim was denied by an immigration judge, who said Boer-Sedano had merely encountered a "personal problem'' with a police officer that did not amount to persecution, and that there was no evidence of systematic official persecution of gays in Mexico.

But the appeals court said that the officer's assaults were clearly motivated by Boer-Sedano's homosexuality, and that his death threats constituted persecution by a government agent.

The State Department reports show that abuse of gay men remains common, the three-judge panel said. Boer-Sedano would be in even greater peril, the court said, because AIDS patients face additional discrimination and hostility, and he presented evidence that the drugs he needs are unavailable in Mexico.

E-mail Bob Egelko at begelko@sfchronicle.com.

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