http://www.care2.com/causes/human-rights/blog/mexican-trans-woman-allowed-asylum-in-the-u-s/Transgender woman Alexandra Reyes, who came to live illegally in the United States to escape the abuse she suffered at the hands of her family and her community in Mexico, has been allowed to say in the U.S. after immigration officials ruled that Mexico's authorities could not be counted on to protect Reyes from transphobic violence should she be returned to the country.
Reyes, 32, was born male but first began identifying as female at the age of eight. Her family refused to accept her gender identity, and Reyes alleges this culminated in several attacks by family members including her father who she says tied her up and beat her with "spiked pieces of a tree" after finding her wearing her sister's clothes.
Reyes reported this and other incidents to the police, but they refused to prosecute her abusers. Fearing for her own safety, Reyes fled the country and came to live in Colorado in the United States almost ten years ago.
Reyes came to the attention of immigration authorities after a misunderstanding arose over a quite substantial cab fair– she claims she had thought a friend would be on hand to pay the $500 fair when she completed her journey, but the friend refused to pay. A week later, Reyes reportedly went to the taxi firm's office to make amends and pay the money she owed, but the company called the police who then called Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Reyes has since paid back the money to the cab firm.
Reyes, who takes female hormones but has not had gender reassignment surgery, spent eleven months in an immigration detention facility in Aurora, where she was housed with male detainees, but, other than a lack of privacy, she says she was treated well.
Her successful application for asylum is reportedly a rare case.
From the Denver Post:
Last week, an immigration judge granted Reyes a form of asylum that allows her to stay in the U.S. based on the persecution she suffered as a transgender woman in Mexico.
The Board of Immigration Appeals withheld her removal from the U.S. after determining the Mexican government would not protect her from abuse if she was deported.
"It would be physically dangerous for her to walk down the street," said her attorney, Bryon Large. "She could be sexually assaulted."
As a condition of her asylum, Reyes must obey the law and can't leave the U.S. for any reason if she hopes to be allowed back in.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services does not keep statistics on the numbers of transgender immigrants granted asylum. But Large said the relief Reyes got is rare for a Mexican national because some immigration judges think there is tolerance for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Mexico.
Same-sex marriage is allowed in Mexico City, and many gay tourists flock to beach resorts throughout the country, leading to the misconception that the country is welcoming, said Large, who argues that pockets of intolerance abound in rural Mexico.
In defending Reyes, one of the cases Large used to persuade the board was of a gay Mexican immigrant who fled to Canada but was denied asylum. After he was deported back to Mexico, he was killed.
Reyes is now staying with friends in Aurora and is waiting to be given a work permit.
Topic: Mexican Trans Woman Granted Asylum in the U.S. (Read 408 times)