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Gay, transgender detainees allege abuse at ICE facility in New Mexico
Source: Washington Post
Gay, transgender detainees allege abuse at ICE facility in New Mexico
By Robert Moore March 25 at 6:57 PM
EL PASO — Gay and transgender people held at a large Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in New Mexico have faced physical and verbal abuse and were placed in solitary confinement after complaining about it, according to a complaint civil rights groups sent to the U.S. agency Monday.
The letter from lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center and the Santa Fe Dreamers Project alleges that 12 gay and transgender detainees at the Otero County Processing Center, a 1,000-bed facility about 30 miles north of this border city, routinely suffered sexual harassment and abuse from other detainees, that guards verbally assaulted them and that ICE officials violated their own regulations in denying hormone therapy to transgender detainees. They also allege that they were placed in solitary confinement after complaining about their treatment.
“ICE’s practices at Otero have created an unsafe environment for transgender women and gay men who are detained there,” the letter said.
ICE officials declined to comment on the specific allegations in the letter, but spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa said the agency follows national standards for medical care and has specific policies for caring for transgender detainees in its custody.
-snip-
By Robert Moore March 25 at 6:57 PM
EL PASO — Gay and transgender people held at a large Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in New Mexico have faced physical and verbal abuse and were placed in solitary confinement after complaining about it, according to a complaint civil rights groups sent to the U.S. agency Monday.
The letter from lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center and the Santa Fe Dreamers Project alleges that 12 gay and transgender detainees at the Otero County Processing Center, a 1,000-bed facility about 30 miles north of this border city, routinely suffered sexual harassment and abuse from other detainees, that guards verbally assaulted them and that ICE officials violated their own regulations in denying hormone therapy to transgender detainees. They also allege that they were placed in solitary confinement after complaining about their treatment.
“ICE’s practices at Otero have created an unsafe environment for transgender women and gay men who are detained there,” the letter said.
ICE officials declined to comment on the specific allegations in the letter, but spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa said the agency follows national standards for medical care and has specific policies for caring for transgender detainees in its custody.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/gay-transgender-detainees-allege-abuse-at-ice-facility-in-new-mexico/2019/03/25/e33ad6b6-4f10-11e9-a3f7-78b7525a8d5f_story.html
