Trans Asylum Seeker Allegedly Suffered Abuse

The heartbreaking findings from an ICE autopsy reveal that a Central American trans woman who died in custody may have been abused.

According to New Now Next, the autopsy of Roxsana Hernández reveals that her body shows signs of hemorrhaging and physical trauma. She was held for 16 days by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and her official cause of death was dehydration and complications from HIV. This already suggests death due to lack of water or access to medicine, but the signs of physical trauma make these implications even worse.

Today, @HRC sent Freedom of Information Act requests to @ICEgov and @CBP for the release of all records related to the detention and death of Roxsana Hernandez, a trans woman who died while in the custody of ICE after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. https://t.co/zwbwoSU4WU

— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) July 26, 2018

The Transgender Law Center gained access to the autopsy by invoking the Freedom of Information Act after ICE officials refused to disclose details of her death. According to their report, this is the sixth death that took place in ICE camps between October 2017 and October 2018.

“[Hernández’] death was entirely preventable,” Lynly Egyes, TLC’s director of litigation, claimed at a press conference according to New Now Next. “In the final days of her life, she was transferred from California to Washington to New Mexico, shackled for days on end. If she was lucky, she was given a bottle of water to drink. Her cause of death was dehydration and complications related to HIV.”

She is remembered by those who survive her as someone who was sincere, loved makeup, and wasn’t afraid to be open about who she was. ICE are still claiming that the allegations that she was abused are false.