Washington D.C, March 25, 2022- Salvadoran journalist Manuel Durán Ortega was granted asylum to stay and work in the United States after a fight that lasted years. He was supported in this process by the Southern Poverty Law Center, among other organizations.
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists released the news on its Twitter account: «Originally from El Salvador, Durán was arrested in Memphis in 2018, while reporting on a protest involving ICE (Immigration Service) and Police.»
NAHJ is elated to share that journalist Manuel Duran Ortega has been granted asylum. Originally from El Salvador, Duran was arrested in Memphis in 2018 while reporting on a protest involving ICE & law enforcement. Thank you @splcenter & @NewsLeaders @NHMC @PENamerica & @RSF_inter
— NAHJ (@NAHJ) March 25, 2022
Manuel has faced harsh incidents that have pushed him to the edge throughout his life. In 2006 he fled El Salvador due to death threats for working as a journalist and immigrated to the U.S., settling in Memphis. There, he became well known by the Latino community for his perseverance and passion for investigating. The main topics he worked on were local and federal policing and justice.
He was a reporter for the newspaper La Voz and Radio Ambiente, and started Memphis Noticias‘s portal. But since 2007, he was listed for not showing up in court for a deportation order. Duran has always denied that this summons had ever reached him.
The arrest of the journalist in the Donal Trump era
In April 2018, Manuel Duran was detained by the Tennessee Police in Memphis, along with a group of activists, when he was broadcasting on Facebook Live for Memphis News a demonstration on the 50th anniversary of the death of U.S. civil rights leader Martin Luther King. He was the only arrested journalist on charges of disorderly conduct and obstructing the public way.
The eight activists were released the next day on bond. Duran remained in custody for 48 hours, after which the Memphis Police Department dismissed the accusations against him. However, upon leaving the police station, Immigration Service officers waited to arrest him.
In a conversation with Fundamedios, Durán assured that there were several journalists at the demonstration, but only he was arrested. He considers that this action was the local police retaliation since he had investigated the collaboration of this agency with ICE.
His lawyers obtained the suspension of the deportation, issued by the Board of Immigration Appeals based in Falls Church, Virginia, on May 30, 2018. His defense argued that he did not receive any notice, gaining force for the asylum claim.
«I knew how complicated my situation was, but I decided to fight to stay in the country and work for the Hispanic community that needs information,» says Durán.
His defense has also claimed that the Memphis Police illegally arrested the journalist in retaliation for writing about police actions on his Spanish-language website Memphis Noticias. The Memphis Police denied any collaboration with ICE in the detention of undocumented immigrants.
His past and his future
After a four-year struggle to obtain asylum in the U.S., the journalist recalls that he went through difficult moments that tested his tenacity. One of those was the 15-month detention during Donald Trump’s administration.
He assures that it took him by surprise that a nation is known for defending human rights and freedoms incarcerated a journalist who fled his own country because of death threats. «I was surprised by the hostility of people I encountered in the administration of former President Trump. Encountering this hostility from the authorities was very disgusting,» he said.
Now that he has been granted asylum, he is optimistic about the future and excited to celebrate with his family. And he knows that he will now have the freedom to write as a journalist and plans to serve his community.