This LGBTQ+ History Month, Tahirih’s Queer & Trans Caucus demands an immediate end to the state-sponsored violence that trans, nonbinary, two-spirit, and queer immigrants face at the hands of our immigration and criminal punishment systems.

The Tahirih Justice Center denounces the new opinion on Matter of A-R-C-G- issued by the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Fifth Circuit.

October 26 marks Intersex Awareness Day and uplifts the fight to end non-consensual infant genital surgeries. Today, we amplify the voices of intersex people and intersex advocacy organizations which call for the end of invasive, unnecessary forced intersex surgeries which are a form of institutionalized gender-based violence. Tahirih is committed to ending gender-based violence and reaching collective liberation, which includes fighting against these invasive, non-consensual procedures.

Clara endured a perilous journey to reach safety. She trusted her Tahirih lawyers and now she lives a healthy, safe and free life.

International human rights law forbids sending people back to the country that they are fleeing when their lives are on the line. Black immigrants, including Haitians, have been discriminated against—and it’s costing lives. For months, thousands of Haitian asylum seekers and other Black migrants have been expelled from this country and denied their legal right to seek asylum. Black migrants deserve to be welcomed with dignity, not face an endless cycle of inhumane and violent treatment at the hands of our government.

October 11 marks both International Day of the Girl and Indigenous Peoples’ Day, observances that illuminate the ways gender-based violence particularly impacts those who live at the dangerous intersections of sexism, racism, and xenophobia.

The Department of Homeland Security issued broad new directives to immigration officers that will go into effect on November 29, 2021. Although these new enforcement and deportation guidelines clarify that not everyone who is an undocumented immigrant should, or can, be removed from the United States, the memo gives worryingly broad discretion to individual ICE and CBP agents to carry out the enforcement priorities and risks the removal of survivors of gender-based violence.