EL PASO, Texas -- Drug Violence in the Mexican border city of Juarez is having an impact on the Texas side.

The attacks that forced police officers to seek asylum are causing business owners to flee threats.

Businesses large and small are the backbone of that border city.

Some business owners estimates that at least one dozen businesses have been torched in recent weeks.

The high profile attacks serve as a warning to others.

But kidnappings are also a threat that is on the rise in Juarez.

Immigration attorney Carlos Spector represented a kidnapping victim. “They put him in the van and kidnap him for 36 hours. Steal his vehicle. Call his family. Seek $40,000 ransom and the family pays it.”

Spector said that after his client was released the kidnappers demanded $50,000 in protection money. “Now, we’re seeking political asylum. We’re going thru the credible fear interviews at this point.”

U.S. authorities will not comment on asylum cases citing privacy rules, but several sources say that dozens of people have crossed the border from Juarez to El Paso seeking asylum.

Things are so bad that Juarez business leaders are threatening to stop paying taxes unless the Mexican government does more to protect them. Others warn they’ll take the law into their own hands.

In an ominous YouTube posting, a group calling itself “United Business Leaders” says it has formed a death squad to fight the attacks that have some Mexican business owners fleeing to the U.S.

An immigration judge is set to decide whether to set a hearing for the asylum case filed by the kidnapped businessman.