A man who said he was trying to start a “jihad” has pleaded guilty to murder and terrorism – before surprising the court by suddenly confessing to killing three other people.
Ali Muhammad Brown, 34, admitted to murdering 19-year-old Brendan Tevlin of New Jersey during jury selection.
Then, without encouragement, he confessed to killing three men on the other side of the country, in Washington – two of them because he believed they were gay.
One man was shot dead in April 2014, while two others were gunned down outside a nightclub two months later.
Prosecutors have said that Brown confessed to killing the two men in June 2014 “because he believed they were homosexual.”
The killings, prosecutors said, showed “an extreme level of violence.”
If Brown were to be convicted of these killings, he could be given the death penalty.
The prosecutor’s office said: “In his statement to the court today Brown admitted that the killings were a part of what he described as a ‘jihad.’”
Brown, who is already serving 35 years in prison for armed robbery, will be sentenced on May 1.He faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
Jamel Semper, who led the prosecution in New Jersey, said Brown “grievously harmed families and terrorised entire communities across the country.
“This defendant is no martyr.
“He’s just an admitted terrorist who will now spend the rest of his life in prison.”
Prosecutors said Brown made the confession in full knowledge that it would not get him a reduced sentence.
Acting County Prosecutor Robert D. Laurino said: “We did not negotiate with this defendant.
“From the beginning, our position has been that he had to plead to all the charges or we would go to trial and let the jury decide.”
As well as admitting to the four killings, Brown pleaded guilty to first-degree terrorism, first-degree carjacking, first-degree robbery, unlawful possession of a handgun and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
In 2005, Brown was convicted in federal court in Washington of conspiracy to commit bank fraud in connection with a plot which targeted several banks from 2002 to 2004.
The year before that, Brown was one of at least 13 people living in Washington who were accused of pursuing the fraud scheme as part of a plot to illegally move people into the US from Gambia.
“You don’t imagine things – seeing things like that, ever, especially not your friends.”
Bronson turned around, and watched helplessly as her friend, who was also known as Rio, died.
Through tears, she said: “I saw my boy, I saw Ta’Ron, I saw Rio, I saw my boo.
“I saw him on the ground. I saw him. I saw him go.”
Bronson said her friend was special.
“He loved himself, and in loving yourself you are able to love so many more people,” she said.
Another of Carson’s friends, D. Rashaan Gilmore, said: “In gay vernacular, particularly in black gay vernacular, there is a term called ‘beating your face,’ and so Rio would always be beat for the gods.
D. Rashaan Gilmore (Fox 4 news)
“That is just powder, pad, getting your face together, because he was beautiful.”
He added: “The beauty of Rio is that because of how he lived his life, it helped to free others to live their lives in that way.
Gary Junior also paid tribute to his friend, telling The Kansas City Star: “Ta’Ron was always himself.
(Facebook/Ta’Ron Carson)
“He was not ashamed of his sexuality. He did not hide himself from anybody. He was really about standing up for the LGBT community.”
Junior said Carson had not argued with anyone at Aura, and had left on good terms.
“There was nothing to say he was leery about anything,” he said. “He gave everybody hugs and said goodbye.”
Aura’s owner Stuart Salomon agreed, saying: “It was peaceful and docile,” he said. “Kids with glow sticks and hula hoops. Not a single person thrown out. Not a cross word.”
Breyana White said she had known him for nearly a decade, having met at Northeast High School, where Carson was made senior class president in 2011.
“He was really just like the life of the party,” said White.
“He was really outgoing, always welcoming to people, always, like, open to meeting new people. He just made sure everyone was happy and kept smiles on their faces.”
She added: “I’m still in disbelief.
(Facebook/Ta’Ron Carson)
“Kansas City lost a great person. They lost someone who was just full of life. He was just all about positivity.
“He was a good dancer. We always would just have fun.”
Toronto police have found a seventh set of remains related to the investigation into alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur and have released a picture of a bearded, darker skinned dead man.
Detective Sgt. Hank Idsinga said Monday they could not identify the man in the picture and are now seeking the public’s help.
“I do not want to release this picture and I’m doing so as a last resort,” he said.
Idsinga declined to say how police obtained the picture of the dead man.
He said they showed the picture to members of the gay community but could not identify him. Many of the other alleged victims have been darker skinned and of South Asian or Middle Eastern descent who frequented the “Gay Village” area of Toronto.
Det. Hank Idsinga stands with a photo of an unidentified man who may be seventh victim of Toronto serial killer, at a news conference at Toronto Police headquarters on March 5, 2018. Chris Young / Canadian Press via AP
Idsinga said they’ve now found the dismembered remains of at least seven individuals this year in large planters at a home where McArthur did landscaping work and stored objects. It’s not clear if the remains of the seventh man are of the same man seen in the picture released by police.
He said they realize how difficult it might be for a relative or friend to see the picture and realize the man is deceased.
“I’ve never done this before,” he said about releasing the photo. “I do it with great hesitation. It is obviously a key piece of evidence that we have that we are releasing, but we feel by releasing it, hopefully we can identify him and close off that area of the investigation.”
Investigators have identified three sets of remains so far — 49-year-old Andrew Kinsman, 50-year-old Soroush Mahmudi and 40-year-old Skandaraj Navaratnam.
Bruce McArthur appears in a photo posted to his Facbeook account. Facebook via Reuters
McArthur, 66, is charged with first-degree murder in their deaths, as well as the presumed deaths of 44-year-old Selim Esen; Majeed Kayhan, 58; and Dean Lisowick, either 43 or 44. Police have said they believe there are more victims.
Dr. Michael Pollanen, Chief Forensic Pathologist for the Province of Ontario, said the causes of death are pending further studies.
Investigators have not yet released complete details, but McArthur is believed to have met his alleged victims in the Gay Village and on gay dating apps for older and large men with names such as “SilverDaddies” and “Bear411.”
Police are looking at unsolved missing person cases to determine if there are connections to McArthur and are running down tips that have come in from around the world.
McArthur, a grandfather and former mall Santa Claus, has not entered a plea. His case is due back in court March 14. Edward Royle, a lawyer for McArthur, has previously declined to comment on the case and didn’t respond to a message seeking comment on Monday.
The former governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee, resigned from the Country Music Association Foundation board of directors this week.
Huckabee faced a backlash over a number of stances against LGBT rights he has aired throughout his time as Governor of Arkansas and beyond.
Writing in a letter of resignation, Huckabee who has made his stance on LGBT issues clear in recent years, said that some had “bullied” him out of the appointments with threats of boycotts and the reversal of support.
He wrote: “I genuinely regret that some in the industry were so outraged by my appointment that they bullied the CMA and the Foundation with economic threats and vowed to withhold support for the programs for students if I remained.”
The two-time Republican presidential candidate Huckabee, has in the past hit out at same-sex marriage, comparing it to incest and polygamy, suggesting that adoption by same-sex couples is experimentation, has attacked trans people, joked about rape and murder, used gay as an insult, and various other anti-LGBT stances.
He oddly did not mention the controversy around his LGBT-rights stance in his letter.
But he did write: “If the industry doesn’t want people of faith or who hold conservative and traditional political views to buy tickets and music, they should be forthcoming and say it.”
The Country Music Association Foundation was warned by business owners that they would drop support if Huckabee remained as a board member.
Jason Owen, who is married to his same-sex partner and with who he has a son, is the co-president of Monument Records.
He told Monument CEO Sarah Trahern and CMA Foundation executive Tiffany Kerns that his companies and their clients would drop support of the foundation in light of Huckabee’s appointment
“Huckabee speaks of the sort of things that would suggest my family is morally beneath his and uses language that has a profoundly negative impact upon young people all across this country,” wrote Owen wrote in an email published by MusicRow.
“Not to mention how harmful and damaging his deep involvement with the NRA is. What a shameful choice.”
People For the American Way, the organization that runs Right Wing Watch, filed suit against the Department of Justice and the Department of Housing and Urban Development today to demand the release of documents concerning reported changes in federal policy toward LGBTQ people.
Right Wing Watch had filed Freedom of Information Act requests with both agencies asking for documents on reported actions removing mentions of LGBTQ people from federal announcements and programs. These reported actions were being taken quietly and without public announcement, raising the questions of who made the decisions, what the decisions covered, and whether agency staff had been directed to implement certain policies regarding programs affecting LGBTQ people without public knowledge.
In August, the organization asked HUD for copies of any directives to pull back from efforts to combat LGBTQ homelessness after New York magazine reported that department leadership had:
… ordered the removal of online training materials meant, in part, to help homeless shelters make sure they were providing equal access to transgender people. It also pulled back a survey regarding projects in Cincinnati and Houston to reduce LGBT homelessness. And it forced its Policy Development and Research division to dissociate itself from a major study it had funded on housing discrimination against gay, lesbian, and transgender people — the study ended up being released in late June under the aegis of the Urban Institute instead.
In September, after The New York Times reported that the Department of Justice had “scrubbed references to ‘L.G.B.T.Q. youth’ from the description of a federal program for victims of sex trafficking,” we asked DOJ for any directives related to that action as well.
Although the deadlines for fulfilling these requests have long past, neither agency has produced any responsive documents.
The group have also recently filed a FOIA request with the Department of Health and Human Services regarding similar decisions to remove references to LGBTQ people from agency policies.
Survivors of the mass shootings at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub and a South Florida high school embraced Wednesday outside the club where 49 people were killed nearly two years ago.
“We’re all family,” said Neema Bahrami, who was an event manager at Pulse at the time of the attack.
Pulse survivors, wearing shirts that read “We Will Not Let Hate Win,” stood among Parkland survivors, whose shirts read “Kids First, Politics Second.” The Parkland group hung 49 white roses on the gate surrounding the nightclub, one for each of the victims.
The visitors from Parkland made a stop at Pulse to pay tribute to the nightclub shooting victims and show solidarity with its survivors and activists as part of their trip home from Tallahassee, where they had petitioned lawmakers to reform the state’s gun laws.
If stricter gun legislation had been enacted in response to the June 12, 2016, mass shooting at Pulse, the Parkland survivors argued, they would have been spared the shooting that killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14.
Stronger laws should have been in place even before the Pulse shooting, said both sets of survivors, including 16-year-old Annabel Claprood, who was in the first room the Parkland school gunman approached.
“This should have been changed after Sandy Hook,” Annabel said, referring to the 2012 massacre of 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. “Pulse shouldn’t have even happened.”
She testified before state lawmakers Tuesday.
“We’re gonna get it done,” a Parkland survivor said to Bahrami.
“Thank you for keeping it up. It’s exhausting,” another Parkland survivor said. Bahrami held her hands, and they vowed to keep fueling the conversation about gun-control legislation.
State lawmakers rejected an assault-style weapons ban Tuesday, despite the group’s testifying in its favor.
“They just made a huge group of activists out of us who are teaming up with other activists. This community right here,” said Shelbie Seys, who has three children going to schools in Parkland.
Orlando knows their pain and the road to healing far too well, said Mayor Buddy Dyer, who was at Pulse on Wednesday to welcome the group. Dyer said he wanted to show the same love and support that Orlando felt from around the world after Pulse.
Orlando city attorneys have been to Broward County since the massacre, helping School Board attorneys there navigate some issues that confronted Orlando immediately after the Pulse shooting, Dyer said.
Dyer said he favors gun-control legislation.
“If the shooter in the case in Parkland had not been able to purchase that weapon during the course of the last two years, he could not have carried out the act that he did,” Dyer said. “I do support a ban on assault weapons moving forward.”
The nation watched as student survivors organized rallies and delivered compelling testimony. Students got in front of state lawmakers who were in their legislative session, an opportunity Pulse survivors did not have because the shooting occurred in June.
The session begins in January and ends in March.
Construction is currently under way on a “interim” memorial at Pulse that is meant to make it easier for visitors to pay their respects while long-term plans for the site are still being determined.
On Wednesday, Pulse survivor Luis Ruiz befriended Heather Davidson, director of public policy and advocacy for United Way of Broward County. They exchanged numbers and a hug before Davidson boarded the bus.
They stood together for a photo in front of the roses.
“We’re stronger together,” Davidson said. “This needs to stop.”
A US federal court has ruled that civil rights laws protect gay workers from discrimination, after the Trump administration argued it was legal to fire people for being gay.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ruled in the case of Donald Zarda, a former skydiving instructor who alleges that that his old company, Altitude Express Inc, fired him because of his sexuality.
Republicans in Congress continue to block federal legislation to protect LGBT people from discrimination, but Zarda’s lawyers cited civil rights protections from the 1960s which outlaw discrimination in employment based on sex.
The Trump administration’s Justice Department, headed by anti-LGBT Attorney General Jeff Sessions, made an uninvited intervention in the case, arguing before the court that that civil rights provision, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, does not provide any protection for gay people.
But the court has today gone against the Justice Department’s argument – in a landmark decision for LGBT equality.
The judges, who considered the case en banc, wrote: “We now hold that sexual orientation discrimination constitutes a form of discrimination ‘because of sex’, in violation of Title VII.
“We therefore VACATE the district court’s judgment on the Title VII claim and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
Explaining the decision, the judges wrote: “The Supreme Court has held that Title VII prohibits not just discrimination based on sex itself, but also discrimination based on traits that are a function of sex, such as life expectancy, and non‐conformity with gender norms.
“We now conclude that sexual orientation discrimination is motivated, at least in part, by sex and is thus a subset of sex discrimination. Looking first to the text of Title VII, the most natural reading of the statute’s prohibition on discrimination “because of sex’ is that it extends to sexual orientation discrimination, because sex is necessarily a factor in sexual orientation.”
The judges added:”Because one cannot fully define a person’s sexual orientation without identifying his or her sex, sexual orientation is a function of sex.
“Indeed sexual orientation is doubly delineated by sex because it is a function of both a person’s sex and the sex of those to whom he or she is attracted.
“Logically, because sexual orientation is a function of sex and sex is a protected characteristic under Title VII, it follows that sexual orientation is also protected.”
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The decision is a victory for the estate of Mr Zarda, who passed away after beginning litigation against his employer.
The judges recalled of the case: “In the summer of 2010, Donald Zarda, a gay man, worked as a sky‐diving instructor at Altitude Express.
“As part of his job, he regularly participated in tandem skydives, strapped hip‐to‐hip and shoulder‐to‐shoulder with clients.
“In an environment where close physical proximity was common, Zarda’s co‐workers routinely referenced sexual orientation or made sexual jokes around clients, and Zarda sometimes told female clients about his sexual orientation to assuage any concern they might have about being strapped to a man for a tandem skydive.
“That June, Zarda told a female client with whom he was preparing for a tandem skydive that he was gay ‘and had an ex‐husband to prove it’.”
Zarda was sacked after the woman complained about his conduct – but brought a lawsuit alleging discriminatory treatment by his employer.
The DOJ had insisted: “Discrimination based on sexual orientation does not fall within Title VII’s prohibition on sex discrimination because it does not involve “disparate treatment of men and women”.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Hashim M. Mooppan appeared before the court this week to argue against gay rights protections, saying: “There is a commonsense, intuitive difference between sex and sexual orientation.”
“Rather than causing similarly situated ‘members of one sex [to be] exposed to disadvantageous terms or conditions of employment to which members of the other sex are not exposed’, differential treatment of gay and straight employees for men and women alike.”
The DOJ also argued somewhat circularly contended that it was clear that existing civil rights law doesn’t protect gay people, because lawmakers in Congress continue to block more explicit legislation “that would prohibit discrimination in employment based on sexual orientation”.
The issue is likely to end up before the Supreme Court.
Donald Trump’s budget plans include a massive slash to HIV funding.
The GOP billionaire has come under fire from LGBT groups following the release of his 2019 budget plans released on Monday.
The budget includes cuts to domestic HIV/AIDS programs, despite the growing needs, including elimination of Special Programs of National Significance (SPNS).
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) civil rights organization, issued the following statement in response to the Trump-Pence Administration’s dangerous and irresponsible FY 2019 proposed budget.
David Stacy, HRC’s Government Affairs Director, said: “Budgets reflect your values. The Trump-Pence budget released today shows a callous disregard for critical programs that impact LGBTQ Americans.
“The elimination or slashing of programs related to the Affordable Care Act, HIV/AIDS, and international humanitarian projects are a direct threat to the safety and well-being of LGBTQ people here and around the world. Congress must reject these harmful proposals.”
Asia Russell, Executive Director of the Health Global Access Project (Health GAP), said: “President Trump’s proposal to cut over a billion dollars from the U.S. global HIV response in fiscal year 2019 shows how very out of touch he is with the American people and their values.
“Americans from across the political spectrum and every part of the country support the U.S. government’s long-standing leadership in funding life-saving HIV treatment and prevention programs in sub-Saharan Africa and across the developing world.
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“If this budget passes as proposed, Donald Trump’s legacy will be millions of new and unnecessary infections and deaths – and a massive resurgence in the AIDS pandemic.
“This is not a time to back down. U.S. funding for global AIDS programs has been critical in reducing deaths and new infections to the point where defeating AIDS is within reach. But after several years of flat funding from Congress, the response is running out of gas. At the very moment we should be on the brink of ending AIDS, Trump’s deadly budget would shift the global AIDS response into reverse.
“Congress should treat this proposal the way they treated the President’s first budget – by declaring it dead on arrival. Instead, Congress should uphold American leadership in the fight against HIV by providing urgently-needed funding increases for PEPFAR and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in the coming fiscal year.”
The budget claims: “At the funding level requested in the Budget, the United States would provide sufficient resources to maintain all current patient levels
on HIV/AIDS treatment.
“U.S. efforts to control the HIV/AIDS epidemic are a direct reflection of U.S. leadership abroad and the goodwill, compassion, and generosity of the American people.”
All members of the council were informed of their dismissal by a letter sent via courier.
Six people had already resigned from the Council en masse in June, saying that Trump and his administration “do not care” about the cause.
The move came after the quiet closure of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, which was shuttered as part of the Presidential transition and never re-opened as Trump failed to appoint a new director.
The White House was slammed by GLAAD over its inaction.
GLAAD tweeted: “It’s time to stop being dismissive of questions about the firing of members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS. It’s time for this administration to prioritize issues related to HIV and AIDS.”
Chicago-based HIV activist Scott A Schoettes, a former member of the council, previously laid into the decision.
He tweeted: “Remaining #HIV/AIDS council members booted by @realDonaldTrump. No respect for their service. Dangerous that #Trump and Co. (Pence esp.) are eliminating few remaining people willing to push back against harmful policies, like abstinence-only sex ed.”
Mr Schoettes accused Trump of “executing a purge” by eliminating the council in combination with other policies. It was reported earlier this month that federal agencies had been banned from using the word ‘transgender’.
In an open letter, the six members of the council who had already quit explained that they had dedicated their lives to fighting HIV and AIDS, but felt that the Trump administration was preventing them from doing this successfully.
They wrote: “As advocates for people living with HIV, we have dedicated our lives to combating this disease and no longer feel we can do so effectively within the confines of an advisory body to a president who simply does not care.”
“The Trump Administration has no strategy to address the on-going HIV/AIDS epidemic, seeks zero input from experts to formulate HIV policy, and—most concerning—pushes legislation that will harm people living with HIV and halt or reverse important gains made in the fight against this disease.”
(Getty)
While Democratic candidates for President Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both met with HIV advocates and proposed an action plan on the issue, Donald Trump did not.
The letter also raised objection to Trump’s healthcare policies.
The letter stated: “We know who the biggest losers will be if states are given the option of eliminating essential health benefits or allowing insurers to charge people with HIV substantially more than others.
“It will be people—many of them people of color—across the South and in rural and underserved areas across the country, the regions and communities now at the epicentre of the U.S. HIV/AIDS epidemic.
“It will be young gay and bisexual men; it will be women of colour; it will be transgender women; it will be low-income people. It will be people who become newly infected in an uncontrolled epidemic, new cases that could be prevented by appropriate care for those already living with the disease.”
The group concluded the letter by saying that the resignation was not an easy decision, but one that must be made.
“The decision to resign from government service is not one that any of us take lightly. However, we cannot ignore the many signs that the Trump Administration does not take the on-going epidemic or the needs of people living with HIV seriously.”
The bulk of the cuts are proposed to the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which was set up by former President George W Bush to tackle the AIDS crisis, and is one of the largest providers of funding for global projects battling the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Former President Bush, who is often praised for setting up PEPFAR despite his broadly regressive stances on LGBT issues, penned an op-ed for the Washington Post warning against any cuts.
He wrote: “My administration launched PEPFAR in 2003 to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic that threatened to wipe out an entire generation on the continent of Africa. Nearly 15 years later, the program has achieved remarkable results in the fight against
“Nearly 15 years later, the program has achieved remarkable results in the fight against disease. Today, because of the commitment of many foreign governments, investments by partners, the resilience of the African people and the generosity of the American people, nearly 12 million lives have been saved.
He added: “As the executive and legislative branches review the federal budget, they will have vigorous debates about how best to spend taxpayers’ money — and they should.
“Some will argue that we have enough problems at home and shouldn’t spend money overseas. I argue that we shouldn’t spend money on programs that don’t work, whether at home or abroad.
“But they should fully fund programs that have proven to be efficient, effective and results-oriented.
“Saving nearly 12 million lives is proof that PEPFAR works, and I urge our government to fully fund it. We are on the verge of an AIDS-free generation, but the people of Africa still need our help.
“The American people deserve credit for this tremendous success and should keep going until the job is done.”
An anti-LGBT+ Christian group has purchased a former gay bar – with the intent of converting it into a church.
The popular Bretz Nightclub in Toledo, Ohio, which was one of the oldest LGBT venues in the area, closed suddenly in December.
The vacated venue was purchased for $148,000 in January by the extreme evangelical group, The Greater Toledo House of Prayer.
In a statement on its website, the hateful organisation says: “In October 2017, the ministry became aware that the Adams St. building was available for sale, then toured the building and determined the space would work well for the group”.
The statement claims that the building was purchased purely because of a “lack of space” in its current offices, and denies reports that the group had anything to do with the nightclub’s closure.
(Bretz Nightclub/Facebook)
The group supports what it describes as “basic christian values” including prohibitions on “homosexuality, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, gender identity different than the birth sex chromosomal level”.
In its ‘Statement of Beliefs’ the organisation also says that “God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female”, labelling any deviation from the binary as “a rejection of the image of God”.
The extreme Church is an affiliate of the Kansas-based International House of Prayer, which supports hate legislation against LGBT people, including supporting a law in Uganda calling for gay people to be put to death.
(Bretz Nightclub / Facebook)
The Greater Toledo House of Prayer also has links to another Christian group, called Agora Toledo, which had planned in 2014 to purchase a former abortion clinic in the area, and to construct a memorial to the unborn in its place.
However, the plans did not materialise, and the ex-abortion clinic is still standing.
Stakeholders in the Adams Street district, where the nightclub was based, have reacted with dismay to the news, saying they were “heartbroken” at the closure.
They added that the venue had been “a staple in our community and a home for the LGBT community for decades”.
However, representatives of the entertainment district which housed the Bretz nightclub vowed that the area will remain “a place of love, understanding, and support and celebration”.
(Village on Adams / Facebook)
A neighbourhood Facebook page, made up of business owners from the Adams Street district, declared that their support for the LGBT+ community in light of the event, writing that “Toledo. Loves. Love”.
Local LGBT+ leaders are also planning to open an LGBT community centre near the anti-gay church, where the nightclub formerly stood, which would include a food pantry, health resources and suicide prevention resources.
Photo: Charles Reed/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
VICE News has learned that a year-old detention center for undocumented immigrants in Dallas, Texas never opened its unit for transgender people detained by ICE. Prairieland Detention Center had plans to feature a protected, 36-bed pod exclusively for transgender detainees to keep those individuals safe from violence and abuse.
ICE spokesman Carl Ruskok confirmed to VICE News that despite reports a year ago, the wing has never been used to house transgender detainees and there are no plans to do so in the future:
“Due to an increased demand for detention bed space and other foreseen factors, the Prairieland Detention Center currently does not operate a dedicated transgender housing unit.”
The decision to set aside a special unit for trans detainees at Prairieland came under the Obama administration, as ICE policy gradually started to reflect the concerns of LGBTQ and immigrants rights groups over the detention of transgender asylum seekers. In 2015, ICE released a memo with guidelines for appropriate placement and care of trans detainees.
