Young Mexican Ex-Police Chief, Family In U.S., Seek Asylum

A young woman from Mexico who took on the top police chief role last year in a small Mexican border town has fled to the United States with her entire family apparently after receiving death threats and is formally seeking asylum, according to reports.

A spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said on Tuesday that a young woman who took on the job of police chief last year in a small town in Mexico near the U.S.-Mexico border is now in the United States and is seeking asylum, according to the New York Times.

Marisol Valles Garcia, a criminology student, was 20 when she took the top police job at the Praxedis G. Guerrero township, population 8,500 in October of 2010. The town is about 40 miles southwest of Juarez, Mexico, along the Western Texas border.

The town, along with its larger neighbor have been the site of numerous drug-related killings. The previous police chief in the town was assassinated.

The Human Rights Commission of Chihuahua also confirmed on Tuesday that Valles Garcia and her family, which includes a baby son, are in the United States and have formally petitioned for asylum, according to Mexican newspaper El Universal.

Gustavo de la Rosa Hickerson, an official with the commission, said he expected U.S. authorities to hear her petition in the next few days and see evidence related to it.

Hickerson said she had not given information about where she is, or her circumstances until she feels sure and confident of her status, according to the report.