Posted on 08/13/2005 12:10:55 PM PDT by SmithL
SAN FRANCISCO - 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.
Too funny Truthy!
I've seen an increase of the Chinese lesbian population in parts of Los Angeles; prolly thinking they can be more "out" here in the U.S.
BTTT
(B) He's claiming he needs asylum because he was forced to perform sex acts by a (presumably gay) police officer.
(C) This makes a mockery of asylum cases.
(D) This should be overturned.
(E) Congress needs to disband this court.
I'm going to guess that the proscription against HIV/AIDS does not apply in asylum cases. It sounds like the kind of loophole they would put into the law. Not that that would stop the 9th circus.
There are still plenty of them around.
That's why the hockey season was cancelled last year. They wouldn't risk having a face-off.
I grew up in a Jewish neighborhood, and we had a lot of them. There was Murray Cohen, Marty Cohen, Morty Cohen, Maury Cohen. I think they were all straight, though. Expect maybe for Marty.
You mean San Fran-SICKO
Gee, a Homosexual Illegal Immigrant...
Only is he were a Jihadist Homosexual Illegal Immigrant could the Left adore him more.
>>Actually U.S. law prohibits people with HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases from immigrating to the U.S. but when did the 9th Circus actually care about the law?
They aren't the problem.. It's the Aministration and Congress who follow the orders of these courts. This is the Root of the problem...
How far do the infected South Assfricans have to swim to get here? /sarc.
when are we gonna start impeaching these crazy nut job judges !?
I kinda like joto better ;-)
He's in San Francisco. He might not have even been infected until sometime after he got here. Just guessing. Don't know if it matters legally though.
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