When transgender women fall in the immigration crossfire

Written by Khatia Mikadze

A portrait of Sylvia Rivera, one of the first transgender women activists, who helped found the Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Activists Alliance.

At New Women New Yorkers, we not only write about success stories of immigrant women in New York City, but we also raise awareness about challenges and important issues these women face. Those of you who read our blog would likely agree that gender is what makes this group “marginalized within marginalized,” as we often call it. But in this post, we touch on a group that’s marginalized even further: transgender immigrants who identify themselves as women.

You probably remember reading about Caitlyn Jenner of Kardashian-family fame, who publicly announced her true gender identity earlier this year; or Kristin Beck, a former Navy Seal, who came out as a transgender woman in 2013. Both received tremendous publicity — and criticism. But have you heard of Jennicet Gutiérrez?

An undocumented LGBTQ activist, Gutiérrez was escorted from the White House for interrupting President Obama during a speech recognizing the strides made in the LGBTQ community, shouting, “President Obama, release all LGBTQ immigrants from detention and stop all deportations!” A video of this incident went viral, but was unfortunately turned into a comic, featuring Obama’s response, “You’re in my house.”  

And what about Joselyn Mendoza, another activist and undocumented transgender woman from Queens? Mendoza has organized and led the largest immigrant youth-led movement to fight for trans-liberation after facing employment discrimination as a result of her gender identity. As a community organizer at Make the Road New York, she fought to push for the GENDA legislation that would include gender identity and expression in employment protections. Mendoza has since become a National Leader for the Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project, where she participated in the recent #WeCantWait campaign that contributed to President Obama acting to protect nearly 5 million undocumented immigrant families. This year, as a part of LGBT Pride, she was honored by New York City Council Speaker Melissa Viverito for her activism and contribution to the community of transgender immigrants in NYC.

Gutiérrez and Mendoza represent a growing community of transgender Latinos (men and women) who are fighting for equal rights and acceptance in mainstream America. They are the faces of many transgender immigrants who identify themselves as women. According to a New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene report, “New York City may be home to the largest concentration of transgender women in the United States,” estimating more than 10,000 adults live in the city.

DID YOU KNOW?

• An estimated 5 percent of US asylum claims are based on persecution of sexual orientation or gender identity, suggesting that the US would have received 4,802 applications citing anti-LGBT persecution in 2014.
• In 10 countries worldwide, same-sex activity is punishable by death, and 75 countries criminalize same-sex relationships. Hundreds of transgender individuals have been brutally murdered in the last year.
• In a growing number of countries, governments have sought to silence equality advocates and organizations with so-called “anti-propaganda” laws and legislation.
• To find out more about LGBT asylum seekers, check out this report: Stronger Together: A Guide to Supporting LGBT Asylum Seekers.

Greyson Brooks, National Coordinator at the LGBT Freedom and Asylum Network and co-founder and leader of Better Together NYC, says that transgender immigrants and asylum seekers have unique needs among which housing and health seem to be the most challenging.Transgender immigrant women experience discrimination in almost all aspects of their lives. Studies have found that Latina and Latino transgender residents of NYC often live in extreme poverty, reporting a household income of less than $10,000 per year.

“Better Together and other LGBTQ advocacy agencies get numerous requests from transgender asylum seekers who have difficulties in finding an affordable housing,” says Brooks. “They tend to live in the urban areas of New York City, but finding a place where they won’t face further discrimination is not easy. In addition, there are health concerns, including hormone therapy or undergoing sex reassignment surgery which might be essential for the transition process for many transgender immigrants.”

Transgender women, in general, are also at higher risk of HIV infection. According to a recent study of 571 transgender women in the New York City area, almost 50 percent of transgender women of Latin American origin and 48 percent of participants of African descent tested positive for HIV, while only 3.5 percent of white transgender women tested positive.

Health disparities become even more apparent when transgender immigrant women face detention. Unfortunately, policy-makers have not made gender issues a priority as of yet. According to a 2013 report by the Center for American Progress, the Department of Homeland Security does not collect data on the sexual orientation or gender identity of individuals in its custody. Because of this, transgender immigrant women are usually detained with men, exposing them to an increased risk of abuse and sexual harassment. Several reports indicate that LGBTQ detainees are 15 times more likely to be sexually assaulted than the general population.

Some studies have also shown that HIV-positive detainees are at a high risk of not getting proper treatment. For example, Victoria Arellano, an HIV-positive transgender woman detainee, died in 2007 in a men’s mass detention cell because she was refused medical attention and treatment.

The US holds the largest immigration detention system in the world and the majority of detention facilities are owned by private prison corporations, including Corrections Corporation of America, which is the largest contractor of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Bureau (ICE) in the US. As a result in part of the lobbying of private prison corporations, in 2009 Congress passed for the first time the controversial “bed quota” measure, which requires ICE to detain an average of 34,000 undocumented immigrants at any given time (read more about this issue here and here). Because of the sheer number of detainees and because of delays to hear cases in immigration courts, the length of detention for individuals is often prolonged indefinitely.

These lengthy detentions contribute to the probability of mental and psychological distress among thousands of immigrants who don’t have any criminal record — in most cases they are asylum seekers looking for safe shelter in the US, or economic migrants seeking better opportunities for themselves and their children. Detention is especially harmful to transgender immigrant women. According to the Center for American Progress report, ICE has said that long solitary confinements are often used to protect LGBTQ immigrants from physical harm and psychological abuse coming from other detainees. However, rather than protecting them, the research shows that solitary confinement leads to “hyperresponsivity to external stimuli,” paranoia, psychosis, and self-harm. After 15 days, the negative psychological effects of solitary confinement may become irreversible or, eventually, fatal.

It’s clear that transgender immigrant women are often caught in the crossfire created by ambiguous policies that do not recognize gender identity, health needs, and vulnerability.

A poll conducted over the summer by Gallup shows that immigration is likely to play an even larger role in the upcoming US presidential elections than many had previously expected. 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is among the members of Congress pushing for legislation to ban the federal government from contracting with private prison corporations, and to eliminate  the “bed quota” measure.

“If people believe that we should not detain more and more immigrants who are very vulnerable, there are other ways to act,” says Brooks. “Spread the word and call your local elected senators to inform them about your opinion.”