EL PASO , Texas ( CNN ) -- The cell phone rang as Jorge Aguirre walked to a friend 's funeral in Juarez , Mexico , last November -- a funeral for a fellow journalist who , Aguirre says , was assassinated for the critical stories he wrote . Mexican federal police recently began patrolling Ciudad Juarez , just across the border from El Paso , Texas . When he answered the phone , Aguirre heard a profanity-laced threat . `` They told me I was next , '' Aguirre told CNN . `` I thought they were going to kill me right there . '' Aguirre immediately gathered up his family and darted across the border into El Paso , Texas . He has n't returned to Juarez since that day . Aguirre is seeking asylum in the United States , and he 's part of a growing trend among Mexican citizens looking to escape the violence and corruption of their homeland . Watch journalists met with death threats » . According to the U.S . Citizenship and Immigration Services , an agency that falls under the Department of Homeland Security , the number of Mexican nationals requesting asylum in the United States based on `` credible fear '' has gone up every year since 2003 , even as the overall number of `` credible fear '' asylum cases remains steady . In 2003 , the USCIS reported 54 asylum cases from Mexican citizens . In 2008 , that number reached 312 . But asylum requests based on fear of violence are n't easy cases to make . Last year , the United States approved less than half of those cases . `` Whether they 're fleeing extortionists or potential kidnappers or they 're leaving because of the drug cartels , it tells you there are definitely problems in Mexico right now , '' said El Paso Mayor John Cook . Those seeking asylum come from every walk of life . There are journalists , entrepreneurs and even law enforcement officials , including three police chiefs . For Raymond Cobos , the sheriff in Luna County , New Mexico , this is the most disturbing revelation . Just across the Mexican border is a dusty , far-flung outpost called Palomas , a speck of a town that 's a popular path for drug trafficking and human smuggling . It 's also been the site of wild gunbattles between cops and the cartels . The cartels outgunned the police force , and the police chief disappeared and sought asylum in the United States . It 's not clear where his case stands or where the police chief is today . `` I do n't know what I would do . It 's pretty hard to fight that type of situation by yourself -- if you 're in an environment that you do n't know from one day to the next if someone 's going to knock on your door and blast your family away , '' Cobos said . Emilio Gutierrez is another journalist hiding in El Paso . He wrote stories critical of the Mexican government for a small newspaper in the northern Mexico state of Chihuahua , which shares a border with Texas and New Mexico . Watch cops say U.S. teens were cartel hit men » . Last May , Gutierrez says men dressed in Mexican military fatigues raided his home in the middle of the night . He was told they were looking for drugs and weapons . A month later , a friend called , frantically urging him to hide . Gutierrez grabbed his family , drove to El Paso and requested asylum . He spent seven months in a U.S. jail as his case moved through the immigration system . He 's recently been allowed to leave the jail while his request is pending . He 's now in hiding in El Paso . `` The fear never ends , '' Gutierrez told CNN . `` We 're scared for our families that are still on the other side , and we 're scared for ourselves . '' Gutierrez and Aguirre offer a chilling perspective on everyday life in areas of Mexico that are consumed with violence and corruption . They describe a situation that has left ordinary citizens unable to trust anyone in positions of authority . `` Thousands of families are in danger of being killed , '' Aguirre said . `` They 're vulnerable because they ca n't go to the police for help because that might get them killed . ''
Number of Mexicans seeking asylum in U.S. on the rise . The number of Mexican nationals applying for asylum at the border has surged to record levels this year, according to a new report from the Department of Homeland Security. ` They told me I was next '' Police chief from nearby Palomas , Mexico , has disappeared amid violence .