DC action demands: ‘End Trans ICE Detention!’
By Judy Greenspan posted on July 1, 2021
Carrying signs and three brightly painted pink coffins, transgender immigrant rights activists and their supporters marched on the White House June 23 to demand an end to Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention of transgendered and HIV+ people. The coffins symbolized the deaths of three trans women, Roxsana Hernández, Victoria Arellano and Johana “Joa” Medina Leon, who died between 2018 and now while in ICE custody or shortly thereafter. (Washington Blade, June 23)
The protest began with a commemorative service for the three women at the National City Christian Church. Trans migrant organizers read statements about the three women and conditions faced by trans, HIV+ and other at-risk migrants in detention camps.