In response to the Trump administration’s latest attack on migrants, executive director Kris Hayashi of Transgender Law Center (TLC), the largest national trans-led organization advocating for a world in which all people are free to define themselves and their futures, issued the following statement:
Yesterday, President Trump in effect ordered violence and a possible death sentence against thousands of people seeking safety in the U.S. This unconscionable rule severely limits the opportunity for people, no matter their circumstances, to apply for asylum, meaning that LGBT people and other communities who fear persecution and violence – groups that our own courts have already identified as eligible for asylum – will no longer have the opportunity to apply solely based on where and how they enter.
This cruel proclamation comes ahead of an expected humanitarian crisis at the border, with thousands of refugees– including potentially dozens of transgender migrants – journeying an arduous path to the U.S. in a last attempt to flee danger and persecution. Instead of being greeted with compassion, they are being met by thousands of active duty troops. This increased militarization of the border has especially devastating implications for LGBTQ migrants, especially Black LGBTQ migrants, who have already been repeatedly targeted by this administration.
This rule is the latest escalation of Trump’s unlawful attacks on people who are simply trying to survive deadly conditions the U.S. itself helped to create. At least one transgender woman from Honduras seeking safety in the U.S., Roxsana Hernandez, has already died because of this administration’s inhumane actions.
Invoking laws that were in the past used to keep out – and thus ensure the deaths – of hundreds of thousands of Jews, Trump is drawing on the most shameful precedents of our history in his fervor to destroy our communities.
Transgender Law Center will continue to fight this administration’s immoral and illegal persecution of transgender migrants, and will never stop rallying to support and protect each other.