Dear Friend,

Since the launch of our detention hotline in 2019, our legal team has answered over 5,000 calls from LGBTQ people in immigration detention centers seeking liberation and safety.   

One of the calls was from Viviana, a trans refugee from Venezuela. When she asked for asylum at the U.S. border, ICE detained her and placed her with the male population at a facility in Louisiana. There, she was harassed for months.

Knowing the danger she was in, we urgently campaigned for her freedom, and won! I spoke with her soon after her release from detention, and she was so grateful. She told me she wanted to be a lawyer to help other asylum seekers.  
 

Photos from Rally to End Trans Detention at ICE headquarters on Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead) in 2021. Left: trans and HIV-positive asylum seekers who died in detention. Right: activist and former client, Ishalaa, calling for the liberation of all LGBTQ people.
 

Even as we lift up our clients' victories, we mourn the deaths of trans women who did not survive ICE custody: Victoria Arellano, Johana Medina, and Roxsana Hernandez.

And in the spirit of Dia de Muertos,* we also celebrate their lives, passions, and the joy they brought to those who loved them.

I know that together, we can liberate even more LGBTQ asylum seekers from dangerous conditions in immigration detention centers.

Thank you in advance for your support and solidarity as we enter this year's giving season.

Liza Doubossarskaia, Staff Attorney 
Immigration Equality 

*Día de Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a celebration widely observed in Mexico on Nov 1st and 2nd where friends and family celebrate and honor their late loved ones.