Mariposas Sin Fronteras and Transgender Law Center Demand Release of Nicoll, Trans Asylum Seeker Abused in Detention

Immigration Advocates Demand Release of Abused Trans Asylum Seeker

Nicoll Hernández-Polanco says she’s faced transphobia and verbal, physical, and sexual abuse from immigration staff and other detainees in her all-male facility, despite posing no ‘security threat.’

By Mitch Kellaway

The Transgender Law Center Tuesday called for the release of Nicoll Hernández-Polanco, a Guatemalan trans woman currently being held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at an all-male detention facility in Florence, Ariz.

In a “Free Nicoll” petition written with other LGBT and immigrant rights organizations, the Law Center explains that Hernández-Polanco came to the U.S. in October seeking asylum because of constant violent attacks, harassment, sexual abuse, and discrimination in her home country and in Mexico.

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#LibertadParaNicoll

Poster - EspanolNicoll Hernández-Polanco (A089-841-646) es una mujer transgénero guatemalteca que se encuentra detenida en un centro de detención para hombres en Florence, AZ por el Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE por sus siglas en inglés). Nicoll se entregó en la frontera de los Estados Unidos a agentes de la patrulla fronteriza en octubre del 2014, y de inmediato solicitó asilo después de sufrir casi una década de violencia sexual y física en Guatemala y México, a causa de su identidad de género. En lugar de encontrar seguridad, Nicoll ha sufrido constante acoso sexual y abuso a manos del personal de ICE y otros migrantes detenidos por ser una mujer transgénero.

Continue reading “#LibertadParaNicoll”

#FreeNicoll

freenicoll fotoNicoll Hernández-Polanco (A089-841-646) is a Guatemalan transgender woman currently being detained by Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) in an all-male facility in Florence, AZ. Nicoll presented herself to border patrol agents at the United States border in October 2014 and immediately requested asylum after suffering nearly a decade of sexual and physical violence in Guatemala and Mexico because of her gender identity. Instead of finding safety, Nicoll has experienced continual sexual harassment and abuse at the hands of ICE staff and other detained immigrants for being a transgender woman.

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Estrellita is free in Tucson! ¡Estrellita esta libre en Tucson! ¡Gracias!

Estrellita

Estrellita Libre!I am writing to you with much love and respect to thank you with all my heart the people who have helped me to pay my bond. I am eternally grateful. Blessings to you and may God grant you many blessings, guide, and multiply your kindness and generosity to help those in need. With your help, I am now starting a new life with my family Mariposas Sin Fronteras, where I can improve myself as a person in this country. I have several goals I hope to develop with my effort and dedication and work. One is to fight to win asylum and obtain legal permission. The second is to study English, work and fulfill my duties and obligations to be useful and not waste this opportunity I have been given.

Me dirijo a ustedes con mucho cariño y respeto para agradecerles con todo mi corazón las personas que han ayudado con el pago de mi fianza, estoy eternamente agradecido, bendiciones para ustedes y que Dios derrame muchas bendiciones, guie, multiplique su bondad y generosidad de ayudar a quienes lo necesitan, con su ayuda ahora inicie una nueva vida con mi familia Mariposas Sin Fronteras, ahora podre superarme como persona en este pais. Tengo varias metas espero poder desarrollarlas, con mi esfuerzo y dedicacion y trabajo. Uno es luchar para ganar asilo y obtener el permiso legal. Segundo es estudiar inglés, rabajar y cumplir con mis derechos y obligaciones para ser util y no defraudar esta oportunidad que se ma ha dado.

Help Free Estrellita From Detention!

estrellita

Hi, my name is Estrellita!

I am 24 years-old and I come fleeing from Guatemala. The reason why is because gang members in my neighborhood tried forcing me to deliver drugs for them. I refused. Within a few days, I found out that they killed a transgender friend of mine for refusing as well. So I decided to leave my country so that I wouldn’t end up the same way. Now I’m in the Florence Detention Center (FDC) and I need your help to get out and meet my goals and dreams to continue studying here in the US.

Please help me so that I am not detained for the holidays!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION,

Estrellita

Help us get Estrellita out of immigration detention! We need to raise $6,500 by Dec. 22, 2014. Lets bring Estrellita home for the holidays! Please DONATE at our gofundme.com/freeestrellita 

Thank you!

Mariposas Sin Fronteras

DONATE To Free Fabiel From Detention!

Fabiel is a youth from Honduras—he just turned 18 years-old this summer and was detained one month after his birthday. This youthful, talented, fabulous young adult is currently confined to a cold cell in Florence, Arizona. Fabiel is fleeing persecution based on the violence he was witness to in 2012. He relocated to another part of Honduras, but was found and kidnapped. Fabiel miraculously escaped and fled to Mexico and then headed north to the United States. Fabiel also fears persecution based on sexual orientation. He cannot return to his home country. Please help Mariposas Sin Fronteras obtain the $2,000 needed to pay his immigration bond, so that he can be released to his family in the US! (His family already has the other half of the bond amount.)

Any amount will be greatly appreciated!

Please donate for Fabiel’s bond via gofundme: http://www.gofundme.com/freefabiel

or mail checks to:

317 W. 23rd St.

Tucson, AZ 85713

(pay to the order of “Rainbow Defense Fund,” memo line: “Fabiel’s Bond”)

THANK YOU!

Rainbow Defense Fund and Fluxx Fundraiser June 7th

Mariposas Sin Fronteras EnglishBenefit Party!  Enjoy Brazilian food, dancing, a keg of kombucha, and great company while supporting Fluxx’s campaign to stay open and raising funds to pay bonds to get LGBTQ folks OUT of immigration detention!  Saturday, June 7th at 9:00pm.  $5-10 sliding scale donation.  At Fluxx Studios, the first and only queer art space in Tucson, 414 E 9th St (9th St and 4th Ave)

Act Today to Support the Release of Ekundayo!

Ekundayo is a 40-year old gay man from Nigeria who has been held in immigration prison in Eloy Detention Center for eight months. In Nigeria, Ekundayo’s cousins discovered that he was gay, beat him severely, and turned him over to the police. The police tortured him for weeks, beating him in the genitals and mutilating him. A family member took pity on him and bonded him out, but when he returned home he had been disowned and all of his belongings had been sold. Ekundayo made his way to Gabon where people told him that the only way he would be safe as a gay man was to request asylum in the United States. He was smuggled aboard a ship and kept secretly in the hold for three months until the ship docked in Mexico. Ekundayo then hitchhiked and walked across Mexico to reach the United States in spite of walking with a crutch because he was crippled by polio as a child. When he reached the San Isidro port-of-entry in California, he asked for asylum. He was taken into ICE custody and transferred to Eloy Detention Center.

As Ekundayo said in one recent letter, “You know that once somebody is deprived of his freedom, the person is incomplete until he regains his liberty.” Ekundayo is desperate to be released from detention where he has been harassed because of his sexual orientation and has not been provided with any significant medical treatment for his deteriorating physical condition. Ignoring the reasons for his flight from Nigeria, an immigration judge set a $5000 bond for him last week because he has no family in the U.S. Community members have offered their homes to Ekundayo and local legal and health clinics have offered him free services once he is released, but we need your help to get him out! Please donate to the Rainbow Defense Fund for Ekundayo via the Paypal link below
or mail checks payable to

Fondo Arcoiris / The Rainbow Fund

317 W. 23rd St.

Tucson, AZ 85713

(pay to the order of “Corazón de Tucson”, memo line: “Rainbow Defense–Ekundayo”)

THANK YOU!

 

Please Donate Today for David’s bond via Paypal

David Ferreira Shubremman, is a 32 year-old sweet and passionate gay man from Brazil. He needs your support!

David is detained in Florence Detention Center since October 2013. He is experiencing intense harassment and abuse in detention. He is seeking asylum due to persecution based on his sexual orientation.

An immigration judge granted David a $2,500 bond on March 26th, 2014.

We are close! Please take action and donate funds to have David released from detention. Your support will directly contribute to having one person no longer exposed to the systematic abuses LGBTQ people face in immigration detention.

Fondo Arcoiris / The Rainbow Fund

317 W. 23rd St.

Tucson, AZ 85713

(pay to the order of “Corazón de Tucson”, memo line: “David’s Bond”)