ICE’s Rejection of Its Own Rules Is Placing LGBT Immigrants at Severe Risk of Sexual Abuse

Disturbing new government data shows that LGBT immigrants held at federal detention centers are 97 times more likely to be sexually assaulted than others, according to an analysis by the Center for American Progress. The Trump administration’s policy of detaining immigrants without parole or bond pending the resolution of their case or deportation—combined with its rejection of policies meant to protect vulnerable populations from abuse in detention—has led to horrifically high rates of sexual abuse and solitary confinement of LGBT immigrants.

Not only is ICE placing LGBT immigrants in harm’s way, the agency has reverted to its practice of detaining transgender women with men or in solitary confinement, contrary to its own rules. ICE data shows that 1 in 8 transgender people detained in fiscal year 2017 were placed in solitary confinement. Placing LGBT people in solitary confinement for their own protection is considered a form of torture by the United Nations. ICE must end its dangerous practice of arbitrarily detaining LGBT people in unsafe conditions and ensure that its standards, guidance, and rules are rigorously enforced.