For Transgender People Fleeing Violence, the U.S. Offers Little Promise of Safety
by Megan Robinson*
Donald Trump has issued a series of executive orders targeting transgender and nonbinary people, as well as migrants. At the U.S.-Mexico border, transgender and nonbinary migrants forced to leave their home countries now face dwindling prospects of safety.
Brigitte Baltazar Lujano, LGBTQI+ coordinator at Al Otro Lado, a nonprofit organization assisting migrants with essential services in Tijuana, reports that their services to the transgender community were suspended briefly following the Trump order to cut federal funds to NGOs and agencies providing a wide range of local, national and foreign aid. The legal and political battle continues without resolution.
The Trump administration has moved fast on the president’s promise to ramp up deportations and close the border, escalating ICE raids across the U.S. and deploying 1,500 military personnel to patrol the border. On Trump’s first day back in office, he shut down the CBP One app, which had permitted migrants to schedule appointments at the southern border. As a result, many thousands of migrants are left in a state of limbo, with no clear way to enter the U.S. legally. “It’s so heartbreaking not being able to tell them there’s even a legal way to help, because there isn’t”, explained Lujano, whose avenues to support her community are increasingly threatened by Trump’s attempt at eliminating not only avenues for entry into the U.S, but to critical services from within Mexico.
In Mexico, emergency camps are quickly filling up, as more migrants arrive from across Central and South America, as well as from deportation flights from the U.S., putting immense pressure on public services and nonprofits struggling to provide housing and medical care to the growing migrant population.
Lujano’s experience is evocative of many from within the transgender migrant community. Fleeing Guerrero, Mexico, due to threats to her life, Lujano immigrated to the U.S. to be with her family, from where she was deported to Tijuana, where she now works to assist others to access shelter, legal aid, and essential medicines. Lujano supports migrants across Tijuana, many of whom live in the only shelter specifically for transgender women, La Casita de Unión Trans, as well as two other shelters that cater to the broader LGBTQI+ community.
Trump is “closing off all avenues for people to even be safe, let alone cross into the U.S,” Lujano said. Without legal ways to enter, she describes the “frustration, pain, and hopelessness” in the eyes of the people she serves.
Trump’s efforts to erase the legal recognition of both transgender and nonbinary identities, as well as restrict immigration and gender-affirming care, leave transgender migrant communities at the intersection of a Venn diagram of harsh new policies that restrict both movement and self expression. They are among the most severely impacted by the combination of policies that undermine gender identity recognition and limit critical support services to both transgender people and migrants.
Unable to return home, or cross legally into the U.S., some migrants are now seeking asylum protection or residency from within Mexico, where they also face significant safety concerns. Tijuana has the highest rates of HIV prevalence in Mexico at 22%, and medical care to support gender transition is almost entirely unavailable through public services — the only way to access care is through nonprofits, such as Refugee Health Alliance, whose ability to provide such care is now under threat. At the same time, transgender communities are particularly vulnerable to cartel and gender-based violence, with evidence of numerous human rights violations carried out by the government and the police in collaboration with cartels and organized crime. Although the Mexican government opened a shelter for deported and new migrants, the shelter is more like a “prison”, explained Lujano. Most of the shelters are run by nonprofits, who may be unable to stay open without U.S. funding.
In light of these increased challenges, Lujano sees the task in front of her, now, as one to simply keep her community alive, in shelters, and with access to basic medication.
“The best thing I can do right now is to make sure they have a safe environment and make sure they have the right medication that they need. I might not be able to help,” she said, adding that even if people are unable to enter the U.S., “the best thing I can do is make sure that they still have a chance to live.”
LGBTQI+ people are estimated to make up around 3% of the U.S. migrant population, where they are disproportionately represented often owing to discrimination in their home countries. Transgender migrants are faced with further discrimination by U.S. law enforcement, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). There have been numerous reports of mistreatment in ICE detention centers, including sexual assault, physical violence, placement in inappropriate facilities, including solitary confinement for their own “protection”, and denial of medical care. “The girls don’t know how to heal from the violence they’ve lived through,” said Susy Barrales, director of the shelter La Casita de Unión Trans and long-time trans activist in Tijuana.
In the last ten years, two trans women, Roxana Hernández and Johana Medina León, died in ICE custody, prompting pressure campaigns to release transgender detainees – calls that have largely gone unheeded. Now, Trump’s orders make an already treacherous situation more deadly.
“People don’t go to a new country just because they want new opportunities or a better life,” she said. These people just want to stay alive, or maybe live longer.”
Lujano explained that while many transgender migrants seeking safety continue to see the U.S. as a desirable option, many will be forced to remain in Mexico. For many, safety concerns prevent turning back, and Trump’s executive orders prevent moving forward. Transgender migrant communities, left in limbo at the border amidst ongoing legal developments, face growing uncertainty about their ability to access essential services in the weeks and months ahead.
Despite the challenges, Lujano affirmed the (increasingly contested) fact of transgender existence, stating that regardless of U.S. policy, transgender migrants will continue to exist and support one another.
“If I have the chance to fight for my people and for my community, I will continue doing that,” she added. “We’re not waiting for approval from people. We’re just trying to live our lives the best way that we can.”
Guest writer Megan Robinson is on Instagram @megan_molleyflo