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== Countries of origin ==
== Countries of origin ==
Transgender persons may have experienced "severe persecution" in the countries they have fled, even where anti-transgender laws do not exist.<ref name=":22">{{Cite journal |last=Tabak |first=Shana |last2=Levitan |first2=Rachel |date=2014 |title=LGBTI Migrants in Immigration Detention: A Global Perspective |url=https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/lgbti-migrants-immigration-detention-global-perspective |journal=Harvard Journal of Law and Gender |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=1 |via=NCJRS}}</ref> For example, in a 1999 case reported by Fatima Mohyuddin, a transgender woman only avoided deportation after her attorney invoked the [[United Nations Convention against Torture]], in light of being tortured upon a previous deportation to Nicaragua.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mohyuddin |first=Fatima |date=2001 |title=United States Asylum Law in the Context of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity: Justice for the Transgendered |url=https://repository.uchastings.edu/hwlj/vol12/iss2/7/ |journal=Hastings Journal on Gender and the Law |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=387}}</ref>
Transgender persons may have experienced "severe persecution" in the countries they have fled, even where anti-transgender laws do not exist.<ref name=":22">{{Cite journal |last=Tabak |first=Shana |last2=Levitan |first2=Rachel |date=2014 |title=LGBTI Migrants in Immigration Detention: A Global Perspective |url=https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/lgbti-migrants-immigration-detention-global-perspective |journal=Harvard Journal of Law and Gender |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages= |via=NCJRS}}</ref> For example, in a 1999 case reported by Fatima Mohyuddin, a transgender woman only avoided deportation after her attorney invoked the [[United Nations Convention against Torture]], in light of being tortured upon a previous deportation to Nicaragua.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mohyuddin |first=Fatima |date=2001 |title=United States Asylum Law in the Context of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity: Justice for the Transgendered |url=https://repository.uchastings.edu/hwlj/vol12/iss2/7/ |journal=Hastings Journal on Gender and the Law |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=387}}</ref>


In 2017, Amnesty International reported on transgender and other LGBTI people seeking asylum from three countries in Central America: El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. In 2020, Amnesty claimed that the situation in Guatemala was particularly unsafe for transgender women in El Salvador. In Mexico, transgender women face "extreme vulnerability", according to a public health review of 45 cases, while noting that their health problems did ''not'' disappear in the U.S.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cheney |first=Marshall K. |last2=Gowin |first2=Mary J. |last3=Taylor |first3=E. Laurette |last4=Frey |first4=Melissa |last5=Dunnington |first5=Jamie |last6=Alshuwaiyer |first6=Ghadah |last7=Huber |first7=J. Kathleen |last8=Garcia |first8=Mary Camero |last9=Wray |first9=Grady C. |date=2017 |title=Living Outside the Gender Box in Mexico: Testimony of Transgender Mexican Asylum Seekers |url=https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2017.303961?casa_token=rm-V1sseeP4AAAAA:r55DaLG7Krsxz_i_927hyQHa1b9IiaerBetOi707PuyL_oASubwlRKbiN2AFII4IsaI4m_A1U2U |journal=American Journal of Public Health |volume=107 |issue=10 |pages=1646-1652 |doi=10.2105/AJPH.2017.303961}}</ref>
In 2017, Amnesty International reported on transgender and other LGBTI people seeking asylum from three countries in Central America: El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. In 2020, Amnesty claimed that the situation in Guatemala was particularly unsafe for transgender women in El Salvador. In Mexico, transgender women face "extreme vulnerability", according to a public health review of 45 cases, while noting that their health problems did ''not'' disappear in the U.S.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cheney |first=Marshall K. |last2=Gowin |first2=Mary J. |last3=Taylor |first3=E. Laurette |last4=Frey |first4=Melissa |last5=Dunnington |first5=Jamie |last6=Alshuwaiyer |first6=Ghadah |last7=Huber |first7=J. Kathleen |last8=Garcia |first8=Mary Camero |last9=Wray |first9=Grady C. |date=2017 |title=Living Outside the Gender Box in Mexico: Testimony of Transgender Mexican Asylum Seekers |url=https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2017.303961?casa_token=rm-V1sseeP4AAAAA:r55DaLG7Krsxz_i_927hyQHa1b9IiaerBetOi707PuyL_oASubwlRKbiN2AFII4IsaI4m_A1U2U |journal=American Journal of Public Health |volume=107 |issue=10 |pages=1646-1652 |doi=10.2105/AJPH.2017.303961}}</ref>
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== Legal issues and political debate ==
== Legal issues and political debate ==
Globally, asylum laws leave LGBT refugee detainees "particularly susceptible to heightened levels of physical and mental abuse," according to refugee law specialists Shana Tabak and Rachel Levitan, and transgender refugees suffer in particular from inadequate access to hormone therapy.<ref name=":22" />{{Rp|page=36}} This lack of access, in turn, may make them more visible during transition and hence more readily targeted for transphobic abuse.<ref name=":22" />{{Rp|page=17}} The typical separation by biological sex in detention centers may also cause problems, with transgender women the most vulnerable to sexual assault.<ref name=":22" />{{Rp|pages=16,27}} The authors recommended changes in detention policies, detainee safety protocols, and health care, with a priority on non-detention approaches.<ref name=":22" /> A 2021 law review article made a similar argument, regarding U.S. policy, due to the "unique challenges" facing transgender and other gender nonconforming asylum seekers.<ref>Leonard, Marnie. "A Particular Social Group: The Inadequacy of US Asylum Laws for Transgender Claimants." ''Hum. Rts. Brief'' 25 (2021): 161.</ref>
Globally, asylum laws leave LGBT refugee detainees "particularly susceptible to heightened levels of physical and mental abuse."<ref name=":22" />{{Rp|page=2}} Transgender refugees in particular suffer from inadequate access to hormone therapy while in the asylum process. In the United States, for example, transgender refugees may only receive hormone treatment if they were already undergoing such treatments before being detained.<ref name=":22" />{{Rp|page=37}} This lack of access may make them more visible during transition and hence more readily targeted for transphobic abuse.<ref name=":22" />{{Rp|page=17}}


Since 2000, the United States has recognized transgender asylum seekers as a social group that deserves protection on the basis of gender identity.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cory |first=Connor |date=2019 |title=The LGBTQ Asylum Seeker: Particular Social Groups and Authentic Queer Identities |url=https://www.law.georgetown.edu/gender-journal/in-print/volume-20-issue-3-symposium-2019/the-lgbtq-asylum-seeker-particular-social-groups-and-authentic-queer-identities/ |journal=Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law |volume=20 |issue=3 |at=578 and footnote 2}}</ref> Nonetheless, transgender asylum petitioners may be disadvantaged due to specific laws, such as those against prostitution.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Medina |first=Luis |date=2017 |title=Immigrating While Trans: The Disproportionate Impact of the Prostitution Ground of Inadmissibility and Other Provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act on Transgender Women |url=https://commons.stmarytx.edu/thescholar/vol19/iss3/1/ |journal=St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=253}}</ref> US political activists have sought to improve conditions for transgender asylum seekers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Valentine |first=Brittany |date=March 4, 2021 |title=A new call to release transgender ICE detainees gains momentum nationwide |url=https://aldianews.com/en/politics/policy/end-trans-detention |access-date=2022-10-03 |website=Al Día News |language=en}}</ref>
Since 2000, the United States has recognized transgender asylum seekers as a social group that deserves protection on the basis of gender identity.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cory |first=Connor |date=2019 |title=The LGBTQ Asylum Seeker: Particular Social Groups and Authentic Queer Identities |url=https://www.law.georgetown.edu/gender-journal/in-print/volume-20-issue-3-symposium-2019/the-lgbtq-asylum-seeker-particular-social-groups-and-authentic-queer-identities/ |journal=Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law |volume=20 |issue=3 |at=578 and footnote 2}}</ref> Despite this, transgender asylum seekers are sometimes disqualified under the United States' criminalization of prostitution even if they are not engaged in criminal activity.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Medina |first=Luis |date=2017 |title=Immigrating While Trans: The Disproportionate Impact of the Prostitution Ground of Inadmissibility and Other Provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act on Transgender Women |url=https://commons.stmarytx.edu/thescholar/vol19/iss3/1/ |journal=St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=253}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=271-2}} The United States' requirement that transgender refugees prove their identity also disadvantages them in the refugee process as many refugees are unable to begin transitioning until arriving in the United States.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Vogler |first=Stefan |date=2019 |title=Determining Transgender: Adjudicating Gender Identity in U.S. Asylum Law |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0891243219834043 |journal=Gender & Society |volume=33 |issue=3 |pages=15 |doi=10.1177/0891243219834043}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Leonard |first=Marnie |date=2022 |title=A Particular Social Group: The Inadequacy of U.S. Asylum Laws for Transgender Claimants |url=https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2017&context=hrbrief |journal=Human Rights Brief |volume=25 |issue=2}}</ref>{{Rp|page=163}}

Some U.S. political activists have sought to improve conditions for transgender asylum seekers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Valentine |first=Brittany |date=March 4, 2021 |title=A new call to release transgender ICE detainees gains momentum nationwide |url=https://aldianews.com/en/politics/policy/end-trans-detention |access-date=2022-10-03 |website=Al Día News |language=en}}</ref>


== References ==
== References ==

Revision as of 22:03, 3 October 2022

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Transgender asylum seekers are transgender persons seeking refuge in another country due to stigmatization or persecution in their home countries. They may be fleeing from state-sponsored discrimination or from social isolation. According to the BBC, Amnesty International found that "the climate had become particularly bad during the pandemic, with many transgender people 'isolated with hostile family members' and unable to access healthcare or wider support."[1]

Countries of origin

Transgender persons may have experienced "severe persecution" in the countries they have fled, even where anti-transgender laws do not exist.[2] For example, in a 1999 case reported by Fatima Mohyuddin, a transgender woman only avoided deportation after her attorney invoked the United Nations Convention against Torture, in light of being tortured upon a previous deportation to Nicaragua.[3]

In 2017, Amnesty International reported on transgender and other LGBTI people seeking asylum from three countries in Central America: El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. In 2020, Amnesty claimed that the situation in Guatemala was particularly unsafe for transgender women in El Salvador. In Mexico, transgender women face "extreme vulnerability", according to a public health review of 45 cases, while noting that their health problems did not disappear in the U.S.[4]

In 2021, the BBC reported on transgender persons seeking asylum from Arab countries.[1] In 2019, Reuters reported a transgender woman who fled from the United States due to US policies, such as with military service.[clarification needed] She was sexually assaulted at a Norwegian asylum center and then deported back to the US.[5][6]

Treatment while seeking asylum

In some cases, transgender asylum seekers are at greater risk than others offered refugee status. For example, Britain arranged for Rwanda to absorb asylum seekers from various countries but, according to PinkNews based on a British government report, transgender asylum seekers are reportedly at great risk in Rwanda due to its prosecution of transgender people, more than other LGBT categories, as "deviants".[7][8]

Transgender people may also be at risk while detained in the countries in which they seek asylum, as Thomson Reuters reported regarding the treatment of transgender refugees in the United States. It reported on the mistreatment of 112 transgender persons in 28 U.S. facilities, including sexual harassment and assaults. According to a 2019 Reuters story, NGOs also reported abuse or rape of transgender persons in U.K. and Greek facilities for asylum seekers. An official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement stated that, "Any time we hear any type of allegations of mistreatment, we look into it, take appropriate action and we try to remedy it."[5] That year, The Atlantic published a video story reporting mistreatment of transgender asylum seekers in the United States.[9]

Asylum outcomes

When denied asylum, there have been reports of adverse outcomes for transgender persons, such as one denied U.S. asylum under "the Trump administration’s hardening policy on asylum seekers," who was killed two months after her return.[10]

Transgender persons may still face difficulties after being granted asylum. Molly Hennessy-Fiske of the LA Times noted that 40% of transgender people adults commit suicide, according to the National Center for Transgender Equality.[11]

Legal issues and political debate

Globally, asylum laws leave LGBT refugee detainees "particularly susceptible to heightened levels of physical and mental abuse."[2]: 2  Transgender refugees in particular suffer from inadequate access to hormone therapy while in the asylum process. In the United States, for example, transgender refugees may only receive hormone treatment if they were already undergoing such treatments before being detained.[2]: 37  This lack of access may make them more visible during transition and hence more readily targeted for transphobic abuse.[2]: 17 

Since 2000, the United States has recognized transgender asylum seekers as a social group that deserves protection on the basis of gender identity.[12] Despite this, transgender asylum seekers are sometimes disqualified under the United States' criminalization of prostitution even if they are not engaged in criminal activity.[13]: 271–2  The United States' requirement that transgender refugees prove their identity also disadvantages them in the refugee process as many refugees are unable to begin transitioning until arriving in the United States.[14][15]: 163 

Some U.S. political activists have sought to improve conditions for transgender asylum seekers.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b Lawrie, Eleanor (7 December 2021). "Helping trans people escape death in their home countries". BBC News. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d Tabak, Shana; Levitan, Rachel (2014). "LGBTI Migrants in Immigration Detention: A Global Perspective". Harvard Journal of Law and Gender. 37 (1) – via NCJRS.
  3. ^ Mohyuddin, Fatima (2001). "United States Asylum Law in the Context of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity: Justice for the Transgendered". Hastings Journal on Gender and the Law. 12 (2): 387.
  4. ^ Cheney, Marshall K.; Gowin, Mary J.; Taylor, E. Laurette; Frey, Melissa; Dunnington, Jamie; Alshuwaiyer, Ghadah; Huber, J. Kathleen; Garcia, Mary Camero; Wray, Grady C. (2017). "Living Outside the Gender Box in Mexico: Testimony of Transgender Mexican Asylum Seekers". American Journal of Public Health. 107 (10): 1646–1652. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2017.303961.
  5. ^ a b Savage, Rachel (18 July 2019). "Trans asylum seekers assaulted, abused in U.S., UK, Norway detention". Reuters. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  6. ^ Johnson, Sylvia (9 July 2019). The Horrors of ICE’s ‘Trans Pod’ (Videotape). The Atlantic.
  7. ^ Milton, Josh (15 June 2022). "Trans asylum seeker narrowly misses Rwanda deportation date: 'I'm glad I won't go'". Pink News.
  8. ^ British Home Office (May 2022). "Review of asylum processing Rwanda: assessment" (PDF). Home Office. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  9. ^ Johnson, Sylvia (9 July 2019). "The Untold Story of Trans ICE Detention". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  10. ^ Renteria, Nelson (22 February 2019). "Trans asylum-seeker killed after U.S. deportation back to El Salvador". Reuters. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  11. ^ Hennessy-Fiske, Molly (5 October 2020). "'She was really a warrior': Transgender migrant reaches U.S. only to die". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  12. ^ Cory, Connor (2019). "The LGBTQ Asylum Seeker: Particular Social Groups and Authentic Queer Identities". Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law. 20 (3). 578 and footnote 2.
  13. ^ Medina, Luis (2017). "Immigrating While Trans: The Disproportionate Impact of the Prostitution Ground of Inadmissibility and Other Provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act on Transgender Women". St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice. 19 (3): 253.
  14. ^ Vogler, Stefan (2019). "Determining Transgender: Adjudicating Gender Identity in U.S. Asylum Law". Gender & Society. 33 (3): 15. doi:10.1177/0891243219834043.
  15. ^ Leonard, Marnie (2022). "A Particular Social Group: The Inadequacy of U.S. Asylum Laws for Transgender Claimants". Human Rights Brief. 25 (2).
  16. ^ Valentine, Brittany (4 March 2021). "A new call to release transgender ICE detainees gains momentum nationwide". Al Día News. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
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