Transgender Immigration Issues

Benach Collopy understands that transgender people have unique needs and challenges when it comes to the immigration process. That is why we have decided to craft an article specifically dedicated to immigrants who do not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth and the options and challenges associated with immigration to the U.S.

Immigration Options

Asylum

Transgender asylees have been accepted into the United States since 2000. Transgender people face distinctive and extreme persecution, discrimination, and harassment across the globe. Specifically, many transgender asylees come to the U.S. from the Northern Triangle region (El Salvador, Guatemala, & Honduras) where not only do they face government persecution, but also social violence and torment. The U.S has designated transgender individuals seeking asylum as being “members of a particular social group” and if asylees have a reasonable fear of persecution due to being transgender, they are able to obtain asylum in the U.S.

U-Visas

​Another immigration option that exists for many transgender individuals coming to the U.S. is the U Visa. The U Visa was created in 2000 by Congress to help victims of a crime and have suffered mental or physical abuse. Specifically, this visa is intended to protect victims of domestic violence, human trafficking, and/or sexual assault. Frequently, this visa is sought by the Benach Collopy team for some of our transgender clients who have been taken advantage of and abused in those ways. Transgender individuals are specifically vulnerable to human trafficking and are at an exceptional risk for gender-based violence. This visa can provide a path to safe immigration to the U.S. and relief to those persons who have endured copious amounts of hardship.

Convention Against Torture

​Although there are many more ways for transgender individuals to immigrate to the United States, the Convention Against Torture is another path. The Convention Against Torture was adopted by the U.N. in 1984 and prevents the U.S. from returning a person to a country where they could be subjected to torture. Given the extreme state violence faced by transgender people, and other members of the LGBTQ+ community, the CAT is a tool to ensure that people who would face torture be that in prisons, or elsewhere, are protected here in the U.S.

Discrimination in the U.S.

​Despite the safety that transgender persons come to the U.S. seeking, immigrants who are transgender face bigotry in the United States. It can be difficult to achieve housing and employment due to discrimination, and violence against transgender persons still exists in the U.S. Benach Collopy believes it is important to not only advocate for and achieve status for our transgender clients, but also to promote  a safer climate and community for transgender people to exist in the U.S.