Read more at Truthout.
The Trump administration has reportedly deported dozens of LGBTQ immigrants who sought or were granted asylum for their sexuality and gender to third countries where they face danger of persecution and criminalization, a new report says.
In an investigation published this week, Reuters identified 40 cases where these LGBTQ individuals were sent to countries that either criminalize same-sex relations or have been designated by the State Department as dangerous for LGBTQ people.
All of these people were granted legal protection in the U.S. for fleeing persecution for their LGBTQ status in their countries of origin, per Reuters. However, more than half of them were ineligible for asylum because of a restrictive Biden-era transit ban on asylum seekers.
Individuals tracked in the report have been deported to countries including Sierra Leone, Cameroon and Eswatini, three countries where same-sex acts are criminalized. In Sierra Leone, same sex acts carry a punishment of up to life in prison. Other countries that have signed deportation agreements with the U.S. have seen abuses against LGBTQ people like conversion therapy and “corrective rape,” the report notes.
The Trump administration has signed third country deportation agreements with at least 35 countries, and has deported over 25,000 people this way, sending them to places that they have no affiliation with. Many governments in Africa and central and South America have signed agreements to receive such deportees, often in exchange for direct funding or other financial incentives.
Leave a comment