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MEXICAN HOMOSEXUALS SEEK ASYLUM IN THE U.S.
The issue of whether persecution on the basis of sexual orientation should be a basis for asylum is not yet widely debated, but when it is discussed it only increases the hostility found in the larger immigration debate. The issue may take on greater prominence following the case of Antonio, an openly gay young Mexican political activist who was granted asylum in early March.
The decision was not published, so its precise basis remains unknown, but Antonio’s lawyer, Enrique Arevalo, said the Immigration Judge took into consideration the fact that Antonio was a political activist and that he is homosexual. The INS refused to comment on the decision, but Arevalo said the government has appealed the decision.
It is estimated that there are currently 1,000 to 2,000 asylum applications based on fear of persecution because of sexual orientation. While this is a small percentage of the 400,000 currently pending asylum petitions, many debate whether sexual orientation should ever provide the basis for asylum. Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform says "if we start granting asylum to people who are ostracized because of sexual orientation we could end up with a potentially unlimited number of asylum applicant coming to this country."
Of course, gay and lesbian advocates see a different picture. According to Suzanne Goldberg of the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, "there is a sense that a higher standard is applied to gay and lesbian applicants." 
No more than a few hundred people have been granted asylum based in part on fear of persecution based on sexual orientation. In 1998 the INS released a report stating that there was improvement in the treatment of homosexuals in Mexico. Activists, who say homosexuals in Mexico remain extremely stigmatized and subject to violence that goes unpunished, have denounced the report.