Asylum seeker continues to navigate legal immigration process with support from some residents in the Morongo Basin

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, commonly referred to as ICE, has been at the forefront of President Trump’s campaign to crackdown on illegal immigration in the United States. As these enforcement operations have intensified across the nation, thousands of people have been apprehended and moved into detention facilities while they work through the legal process that will ultimately determine whether they can remain in the country.

Amongst those detained are asylum seekers — people who not only came to the United States to seek a better life, but also escape a dangerous situation in the country they fled from.

Reporter Adeline J. Wells has been following one such asylum seeker as she navigates the asylum process, along with help from some residents of the Morongo Basin and she picks up the story from here.

Listen here:

Rocio Boheli Mokara, who will be referred to in this story by her first name, Rocio, is a native of Equatorial Guinea who was living in Yucca Valley while navigating the asylum process in the United States. In July 2024, Rocio fled her home country due to political persecution by the corrupt Mbasogo regime, which has long faced accusations of human rights violations and political violence. The government had murdered her husband and violently beaten her to the point of hospitalization, inflicting injuries to her knee that she is still in the process of recovering from. 

Seeking asylum in a tenuous time

On November 18, Rocio returned to Court for a Master Hearing on her asylum case. Her journey to the United States and asylum application stemmed from her fear of torture and persecution in Equatorial Guinea; several officials throughout her time in detention accepted her Credible Fear Interview as tenable. Despite this, Immigration Judge Andrew Fishkin denied her asylum application and ordered her deportation. According to eyewitness testimony, Judge Fishkin had said throughout Rocio’s court proceedings that he found her testimony credible; however, the prosecution insisted that “documentary evidence” needs to be obtained from Equatorial Guinea. According to Rocio, evidence such as the medical records from her assault and her husband’s death certificate are unattainable because the government that holds those records is also the reason they exist in the first place.

Rocio filed an appeal to Judge Fishkin’s decision on November 27, citing a legal precedent that says applicants must provide documentary evidence unless they cannot reasonably obtain the evidence. There is also a legal precedent for asylum cases to be made on credible testimony, as Rocio’s has been found several times. Further, Rocio stated that her life would be in peril should she return to Equatorial Guinea due to her outspoken stance on the government, their documented human rights abuses, and the threats that followed her throughout her journey to the United States. 

Appeal process and delayed surgery

Rocio is currently awaiting the appeal process at Eloy Detention Center in Arizona, where she has been detained since her apprehension at a court appointment in July of last year. On January 14, Rocio was told she would receive surgery to repair her right knee and was transported to a hospital in Phoenix. The knee had sustained years of traumatic injury: it required hospitalization after her assault by police in Equatorial Guinea, was reinjured after falling down a rocky cliff during her crossing of the Darien Gap, and has been reinjured while in detention at Eloy. Upon her arrival at the hospital, she learned the surgery had been cancelled due to an unexpected illness of the surgeon. Rocio has yet to receive word on when, or if, the surgery will be rescheduled.

Support from the Morongo Basin

A group of local women has organized around Rocio’s case since her detention in July, and continues to work on her behalf. In addition to helping her file the appeal, the group has contacted her family for documents and assisted in writing the brief rebutting Judge Fishkin’s decision. Among their arguments is that there is legal precedent for asylum decisions to be based solely on credible testimony of the applicant, especially when reliable documents are not available. They have reached out to elected representatives for assistance on Rocio’s case. Further, the group is pursuing an appeal on her bond hearing from August 5; the judge denied the request for bond due to a lack of jurisdiction related to the Trump administration’s restriction on bond for detainees. 

Dana Balicki, a Morongo Basin resident and member of the group, shed light on the challenges shared not only by Rocio but also by other asylum-seekers currently in detention.

“A lot of people don’t have the level of support that Rocio has, a whole team of volunteers that have been spending a lot of time and energy raising funds, hiring a lawyer. We are working so hard and, even with the established credible fear, even with everything in Rocio’s favor, we’re still running up against walls and limitations all the time. It’s so devastating to see how this system is so difficult to navigate and unclear, and how many resources it takes just to move one person through the system.”

You can read previous coverage of Rocio’s case here.

Z107.7 will continue reporting this story as more unfolds.

The post Asylum seeker continues to navigate legal immigration process with support from some residents in the Morongo Basin appeared first on Z107.7 FM Joshua Tree.