SOLUTIONS

ABOLISHING ICE

Calling for the abolition of ICE is also a rallying cry for many people in the immigrant community and ties into the work being made for a comprehensive immigration reform. As Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez states in an The Nation article that “after a long and protracted history of sexual assault and uninvestigated deaths in ICE’s detention facilities, as well as the corrosive impact ICE has had on our schools, courts, and communities, it’s time to reset course”. There should be a “full congressional inquiry into ICE enforcement and detention practices”. The death of Roxana Hernández, a transgender woman from Honduras, also sparked controversy as did the deaths of the two Guatemalan kids, as a result no concrete actions have been taken by Congress to remedy the issue. They all died because there was a failure to give them the appropriate medical care necessary. Roxana Hernández, like so many others, came to the U.S. in order to live a more free and safer life because of the violence she experienced due to simply being a trans woman. She stated in an interview with Buzzfeed News that “trans people in my neighborhood are killed and chopped into pieces, then dumped inside potato bags”. According to The Guardian, Roxana had contacted HIV after being gang-raped in her own neighborhood. After her death, it was discovered that she had been having symptoms of pneumonia and was still kept in freezing temperatures while being detained by ICE. The Transgender Law Center released a statement after her death, describing the experiences of trans people, especially trans women of color who are detained: “they are targeted and harassed by police or held in detention where they experience violence, discrimination, and [unable] to access to medical care, all of which may lead to dire consequences”. Roxana’s death exemplifies the pervasive discrimination that immigrant WOC experience, which is only amplified tenfold when they are transgender.