Today, the National Center for Transgender Equality ( NCTE ) joined over four dozen labor and immigrants' rights organizations in calling for common sense immigration reform.
On the heels of the House introduction of an immigration proposal and ahead of the "National Day of Dignity and Respect," — a day of action scheduled for Saturday, October 5th, 2013 — NCTE issued a new report outlining the barriers and harms transgender immigrants face while navigating the U.S. immigration system.
On the significance of the House immigration reform proposal, NCTE Executive Director Mara Keisling said, "Immigration reform is important to transgender people because many transgender people are undocumented, but that's really only part of its significance. We need reform because people are hurting without it and in our country we stand together to stop that. All people, including undocumented immigrants, deserve dignity and respect and we're proud to join national advocates in a unified call for immediate relief to every undocumented person struggling to make ends meet, care for their families, and contribute to our communities."
The new report, "Out Moment for Reform: Immigration and Transgender People," identifies four key challenges facing transgender immigrants:
Employment Insecurity: Undocumented transgender people are severely limited by living in the dual shadows of transphobia and their undocumented status. They are often unable to obtain legally authorized work in the U.S. or face exploitation by employers when they do manage to find employment. The National Transgender Discrimination Survey found that 39% of undocumented transgender people had lost jobs due to bias compared to U.S. citizens ( 26% ).
Income and Housing Insecurity: Employment insecurity results in high levels of poverty and homelessness among undocumented transgender people. Despite being more likely to have college-level education, undocumented transgender people are far more likely than transgender US citizens to live in poverty, and many more times as likely as the general population to live on less than $10,000 a year. Income insecurity paired with anti-transgender bias has resulted in over one in five undocumented transgender people ( 21% ) having being evicted at least once due to bias, twice the rate reported among all transgender people.
Lack of Health Care Access: Like their non-transgender counterparts, undocumented transgender immigrants experience a high rate of being uninsured ( 36% )—more than twice the rate of the general population. Like all transgender people, undocumented transgender people who can obtain insurance coverage regularly face discrimination in the scope of their coverage. Four percent of undocumented transgender people experienced physical assault in a medical setting, twice the rate of the overall sample.
Creating a Pathway to Citizenship: Of the 267,000 undocumented LGBT people living in the U.S. today, an estimated 20,000 - 50,000 are transgender. For transgender and non-transgender immigrants alike, a pathway to citizenship would provide legal certainty that they will not be deported or separated from their families and communities, while improving their ability to earn a living and continue contributing to society.
Harper Jean Tobin, NCTE's Director of Policy and co-author of the report, said, "I wanted to write this report because of the horrific stories of transgender undocumented people out there. I think about Johanna, for example, who is a survivor of three sexual assaults. The first attack led her to seek asylum in the U.S. But when she missed a one-year filing deadline, she fell out of legal status, which led to her arrest. Without a lawyer to help her, and faced with suffering indefinitely in immigration detention, she resigned herself to deportation." Tobin added, "Johanna's experience is a too-frequent occurrence for undocumented transgender people and we must bring our immigration laws in line with our country's basic sense of dignity and respect for all people."
The report also identifies key failings in our current immigration system that can have especially harsh effects on transgender immigrants and their loved ones. Many transgender people come to the US fleeing violence and persecution because of who they are. Most are unaware that it is possible to seek asylum based on their transgender status, and find their claims blocked by an arbitrary one-year filing deadline. Many are eventually swept into immigration detention for months, without access to legal counsel. Transgender detainees face high rates of abuse in detention, yet often the only response is to automatically place them in indefinite solitary confinement - which medical experts say is yet another form of abuse. The report calls for commonsense reforms that address these problems and limits - rather than expand - our already massive, costly, and unnecessary use of detention.
"The case for immigration reform is clear," said NCTE Executive Director Mara Keisling. "It's time for the House of Representatives to act reasonably and vote on common sense immigration reform. Immigration reform is good for our country because our country does better when each of us is participating. The time for common sense immigration reform is long overdue."
As outlined in this report, transgender people have a stake in common sense immigration reform. The National Center for Transgender Equality, together with other partners in the LGBT movement, will continue to pressure members of the House of Representatives to move reform forward and monitor the bill's progress to ensure that protections for transgender and LGBT immigrants remain strong.
Statements from immigrants' rights organizations on the importance of including transgender people in immigration reform:
Brent Wilkes, National Executive Director, League of United Latin American Citizens ( LULAC )
"Our lesbian, gay, bisexual and in particular transgender brothers and sisters continue to suffer from significant discrimination in society. We know that transgender Latinos face multiple levels of discrimination in employment, housing and health security, which is made worse for undocumented transgender people. We have supported the inclusion of the full LGBT community in immigration reform legislation because we could not allow any member of our community to be treated differently. The LGBT community remains a supporter of immigration reform and we are all stronger for it. This uncompromising commitment to reform is a testament to the LGBT movement and reaffirms our partnership with the LGBT community as we continue to fight for comprehensive immigration reform."
Mary Meg McCarthy, Executive Director, National Immigrant Justice Center ( NIJC )
"Passing an immigration law that respects human rights for all people remains critical to sexual minority immigrants, who are among the most vulnerable in the face of our current broken immigration system. With immigration-related arrests at an all-time high, transgender immigrants are more likely to face discrimination, abuse, and isolation in immigration detention. Often deprived access to legal counsel, these individuals face a grave risk of being unjustly deported to countries where they face persecution and torture simply because of their sexual identities. Congress has an opportunity with immigration reform to improve access to justice for all immigrants, regardless of sexual orientation, gender, or any other characteristic. It is critical for members of the House and Senate to hear from Americans that immigration reform is still a priority for the LGBTQ community."
Doug Stump, President, American Immigration Lawyers Association
"AILA believes that the benefits of America's immigration system should not depend on your religion, your political beliefs, your sexual orientation, or your gender identity. Any American would agree that being forced to choose between your homeland and your loved one is a heart-breaking choice, and the historic Supreme Court decision to strike Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act brought us one step closer to eliminating that terrible choice for all families. We urge Congress to take the necessary steps to create an immigration system that lives up to American values because it's not about what you look like, who you love, or where you were born that makes you American - it's how you live your life and what you do that defines you here in this country."
See www.transequality.org/ .
