One of the most commonly discussed topics in the news today is the doctrine of asylum, primarily from Central American countries that have been deemed unsafe by those fleeing. However, the doctrine of asylum, in the context of immigration law, is not quite as simple.
Read MoreIndividuals being persecuted because of their sexual orientation and identified gender is not a new phenomenon. Oftentimes, those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and queer or questioning (LGBTQ) are the victims of discrimination, trauma, and persecution. Many LGBTQ refugees who fear that they will be harmed based on their gender identity or sexual Read More
Read MoreThe federal government enters its fourth week of shutdown (or, as it is more diplomatically put, “lapse in appropriations”) because of what Donald Trump calls a humanitarian crisis at the border. Such importance is placed on this crisis that we have 80, 000 federal workers staring at yet another week without pay. So… what crisis Read More
Read MoreA local crowdfunding effort resulted in a California transgender activist seeking asylum to be free on $3,000 bond after serving three years in prison for involuntary manslaughter. This was reported by OC Weekly. Valeria De la Luz left the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Albuquerque, New Mexico on February 9 with an ankle monitor. Read More
Read MoreJuntos, an immigrant rights group, and GALAEI, a queer Latin social justice organization, recently formed an online petition requesting the release of a gay undocumented immigrant from Mexico who has been separated from his husband since last month. So far, more than 1,000 signatures have been collected. CBS Philadelphia reported that, on January 31, Jose Read More
Read MoreLGBT activists from El Salvador criticized President Donald J. Trump’s decision to remove Temporary Protected Status (TPS) from the 200,000 Salvadoran non-citizens currently living in the U.S., according to an article from the Washington Blade. These non-citizens were granted TPS by then-U.S. President George W. Bush in 2001 after their home country was ravaged Read More
Read MoreA recent survey published by The Las Vegas Sun found that, of all undocumented immigrants who benefit from DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), 10 percent identify themselves as members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Tom K. Wong of the University of California, San Diego conducted the study, in conjunction with Read More
Read MoreThe Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), under the auspices of its Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative (SIFI), recently announced that the organization was able to obtain asylum for a transgendered woman who was fleeing her native country of Guatemala. She said she had been targeted by both the police and drug cartels because of her gender Read More
Read MoreDespite entrenched opposition in some quarters to same-sex marriage, the United States is one of the most accepting countries in the world for members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender (LGBT) community. Given the openness of our society, we sometimes forget that LGBT persons in other countries face discrimination and persecution for their sexual Read More
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