Trans Woman Fled Venezuela, Now Trapped in US Men’s Jail as Deportation Fears Grow
Shakira Galíndez, a transgender woman who fled Venezuela to escape violent threats, is now being held in a U.S. men’s detention center, where she faces discrimination, violence, and the risk of deportation. Her case highlights a growing crisis for transgender Venezuelan asylum seekers in the United States.
Galíndez left Venezuela to escape threats she faced as a transgender woman. Upon arriving in the United States, authorities placed her in a men’s detention center instead of a facility appropriate for her gender identity. There, she faces ongoing discrimination, violence, and the constant threat of deportation [178106].
Her experience is part of a broader pattern of danger facing transgender people under current U.S. policies. Laverne Cox, the actor from *Orange Is the New Black*, recently warned that trans people “will be exterminated” if rights continue to be stripped away. Cox noted that people are losing jobs, healthcare, and being detransitioned in prison, and that gender-affirming care is under attack for both children and adults. She said the real goal is “to create a permission structure to scapegoat trans people, to dehumanise trans people, to take away our rights and to eliminate us from public life” [173542].
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