US immigration

Trans women in Ice custody already suffered sexual harassment and abuse. Then
came Covid-19

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   organization tried to kidnap her because of her gender identity. She
   was detained after crossing the border near San Luis, Arizona, and was
   transferred to La Palma, an immigration detention facility run by the
   private corporation CoreCivic. There, she was placed in a unit for men,
   where she faced discriminatory insults, sexual advances and physical
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   the center had recorded more than 450 cases.

   In October, Katalina and several other transgender women at LaPalma
   wrote a series of public letters denouncing their treatment by Ice.
   They say officials have done little to address the harassment and
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Harassment in custody

   Trans and queer populations in immigration detention have long
   complained of persistent sexual harassment. Back in 2015, the US
   Department of Homeland Security stated in a memo that trans people held
   by Ice need to have access to mental health treatment and hormone
   therapy and should be housed according to their gender identity.

   In the past, Ice had some dedicated units for trans people, but in
   practice, many trans and LGBTQ+ people are still assigned to units that
   correspond with their sex at birth. There are 31 self-identified trans
   people, including Katalina, in detention nationwide, according to Ice
   figures. Reports of discrimination by staff and medical negligence
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   Progress analysis. When people do report abuse, there is often no
   follow-up to tell them about the outcome of their grievances, said Lori
   Williamson, the outreach coordinator of Transcend Arizona, an
   organization that assists and supports LGBTQ+ people inside and outside
   detention.
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   and keep yourself safe is nearly impossible when you are in a place
   where every moment of every day you are at risk for physical and sexual
   violence,” said Lynly S Egyes, the legal director of the Transgender
   Law Center.

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   to report abuse out of a fear that officials will respond by
   segregating them from the general population, said Karla Bautista, the
   liberation coordinator for Trans Queer Pueblo, an advocacy organization
   for LGBTQ+ rights in Phoenix.

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   in whatever they want. The reality is solitary confinement and
   administrative segregation is the same thing,” said Egyes, the
   Transgender Law Center’s legal director. “It is a punishment. And if
   Ice cannot keep people safe in the general population, they should be
   released.”
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   his health complications, but Ice has denied his requests.

   Emma, a 22-year-old trans woman from Honduras held at La Palma, said
   she would receive inappropriate and unsolicited letters from other male
   detainees, and that guards would often laugh when she told them about
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     * LGBT rights
     * Transgender
     * US prisons
     * US politics
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