CNN: Prof. Alvarez-Hernandez Shares Expertise on Trans Immigrant Risk Factors from Trump Policies
Pres. Donald Trump’s new policies have led to heightened discrimination for trans immigrants. Many fear deportation to violent home countries where their safety is at risk, while detention centers in the U.S. often lack adequate care and expose them to dangerous conditions, contributing to preventable deaths. In an article for CNN, Prof. Luis Alvarez-Hernandez from BU School of Social Work explains the unique risks trans immigrants face.
Excerpt from “Trump’s Policies on Gender Identity and Immigration Have Trans Immigrants Worried About Their Future” by Taylor Romine:
‘It’s important to consider that trans immigrants are experiencing an enhanced experience of discrimination, because we have in our country this anti-trans and anti-immigrant rhetoric of policies,’ said Luis R. Alvarez-Hernandez, an assistant professor at Boston University School of Social Work. ‘So, they are at the intersection of both crucial moments in our policies.’
During the first Trump administration, Alvarez-Hernandez worked as a clinical social worker in Atlanta and heard how fearful many of his trans immigrant clients were of being sent to the violent environments of their home countries.
‘Their fears are not unfounded. We have a long history of news out there following trans immigrants (who) have been sent back to the(ir) countries of origin and then have been killed there,’ he said.
Returning to those conditions seems unfathomable to many trans immigrants, and being detained in immigration detention centers seems equally terrifying.
People in detention often lack medical and mental health care and suffer discriminatory treatment, conditions that have led to ‘largely preventable deaths,’ according to a 2024 report from the National Immigrant Justice Center.”