14 LGBTQ immigrants who were detained by ICE were recently sent from the Cibola County Correctional Center in Milan, New Mexico, to the Northwest ICE Processing Center after numerous complaints regarding the care of transgender individuals detained in the Cibola County facility.
Tanya Roman, a spokesperson for ICE, said that the poor conditions cited at three Cibola County Correctional Center occurred while the agency was working with its “contractor to assess and improve the quality of long-term health care management.” According to Roman’s statement on behalf of ICE, the agency “takes both the mental and physical well-being of all those within our care very seriously.”
Does ICE Have Separate Detention Centers for Transgender Detainees?
ICE opened the first-ever detention unit exclusively for transgender women in Santa Ana, California, in 2014. A year later, ICE issued a guidance on how officers should care for transgender individuals in custody. Under ICE’s Transgender Care Memorandum, personal is required to allow the following:
- Transgender detainees can identify themselves based on their gender identity
- Transgender detainees can be housed with others of the same gender identity
- Transgender detainees have access to hormone therapy and other types of trans-specific health care
However, in 2017, the ICE facility in Santa Ana was shut down and a similar unit that houses up to 60 women opened at the Cibola County Correctional Center. Since its inception, the transgender unit at the Cibola County Correctional Center has been scrutinized by activists after two transgender women being held at the facility died under questionable circumstances that suggest they suffered abuse because of their gender identity.
According to a report released by Human Rights Watch, transgender detainees were “regularly subjected to humiliating and abusive strip searches by male guards; have not been able to access necessary medical services, including hormone replacement therapy, or have faced harmful interruptions to or restrictions to that care; and have endured unreasonable use of solitary confinement.”
ICE Immigration Defense Attorneys
At Musa-Obregon Law PC, we are dedicated to helping immigrants throughout New York City who need help navigating the legal system. Whether you have been detained by ICE after petitioning for asylum or arrested for a crime, we are here to use our extensive resources and legal insight to defend your rights and fight for you throughout each phase of the legal process. Don’t hesitate to give us a call today to discuss your immigration matter with a member of our team
To request a case evaluation with Musa-Obregon Law PC, call (888) 502-8461 today.