Post 10 - Reflection
I originally chose this topic because I knew that it was something that was oftentimes looked past in our communities. Over the course of 3 years in Gender and Women’s Studies courses at UIC, I have only had one professor who spoke about the experiences of trans people (specifically trans women) in US immigrant detention centers, yet I have learned extensively about the experiences of trans people in US prisons. I wondered why this topic was looked over, and wanted to work independently to further understand how trans immigrants were still being held, abused, and neglected in immigrant detention centers. Many immigrants who are LGBTQ come to the United States in hopes of seeking asylum - they are merely trying to escape the potentially life-threatening danger that they faced in their countries of origin. Yet when they arrive in the United States, they are unable to find employment, housing or resources because many of them are undocumented (and all of them are trans). Instead, many of them end up being arrested, either by ICE or the police, and put into these detention centers. When they arrive in detention, they end up facing many of the horrors they faced in the countries they fled from, instead of finding the safety that they came to the United States in search of.
As we know, the topic of immigration in the United States is an incredible hot topic, as is the topic of trans rights. I believe that this issue has yet to be addressed simply because the issues of immigration and trans rights are in the process of being addressed. The experiences of trans immigrants are the experiences of individuals who are experiencing oppressions from many different angles. In order for the experiences and rights of trans immigrants to be acknowledged by society and the forces that govern us, the issues of immigration and trans rights must first be acknowledged by all. The real issue is that the longer that we wait to address this issue, there are trans men and women across the country in immigrant detention centers being held, abused and neglected. One thing that gives me hope is the number of organizations that I found that are working to free trans people from immigrant detention centers. As I leave UIC and move forward in my career, I hope to find a way to help to bring this issue to more people’s attention, in hopes of bringing about change as soon as humanly possible. Until change occurs, trans people will continue to suffer, and that is something that everyone should see issue with.