Transgender people in ICE detention describe their conditions as "dreadful, ugly" being dehumanized daily physically, mentally, and emotionally. Transgender asylum seekers are often not accounted for, as it can take weeks to months for lawyers to fully understand how a person identifies. Transgender people who are detained all require specialized mental health care, and many have specific social and medical needs that cannot be met, with claims of medical neglect, lack of mental health care, sexual harassment and assault, and use of solitary confinement. Given how risky it is to detain transgender people and the medical and social needs of the population, "one would think they should be released from detention if not all of them," Allegra Love says, the executive director of Sante Fe Dreamers Project.
ICE detaining transgender individuals despite widespread calls for their release
Transgender people in ICE detention describe their conditions as "dreadful, ugly" being dehumanized daily physically, mentally, and emotionally. Transgender asylum seekers are often not accounted for, as it can take weeks to months for lawyers to fully understand how a person identifies. Transgender people who are detained all require specialized mental health care, and many have specific social and medical needs that cannot be met, with claims of medical neglect, lack of mental health care, sexual harassment and assault, and use of solitary confinement. Given how risky it is to detain transgender people and the medical and social needs of the population, "one would think they should be released from detention if not all of them," Allegra Love says, the executive director of Sante Fe Dreamers Project.