Once one gets asylum-status, they can seek green card. Gang threats, criminal threats, and cartel threats to oneself and his/her family are not sufficient grounds to get asylum status; of course, one can seek asylum, but USCIS, administrative judges, even federal courts deny asylum to such people.

The moment the USA declares that Mexico is a terrorist-controlled state, then judges can grant asylum automatically, even if USCIS declines at first. When USA does something, they look at these issues.

Let me cite another instance, why Obama signed DACA executive order. Whenever someone enters USA illegally, such a person can never the green card, even if his/her American spouse sponsors. Only amendment of immigration laws can allow that. Here, what Obama did in the name of DACA is helpful: people can get Advance parole through DACA, then they can go to their home countries, and can come back through the port of entries (with a stamp on their passports, a stamp that says "paroled" on xx/yy/20zz). Now such a DACA person can get a green card, if his/her spouse sponsors(And this option was foreclosed earlier without DACA EAD/AP).