Ninth Circuit Hears Arguments in Cases of Three Transgender Women Seeking Asylum from Mexico

Heartland Alliance’s National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) participated in oral arguments in one of three cases heard today by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Pasadena, California, involving transgender women from Mexico seeking protection from persecution and torture. NIJC submitted amicus briefs on behalf of two of the women.

 

“These cases could set a significant precedent that we hope will eliminate the unnecessary hurdles transgender people face when they flee to this country to escape persecution,” said Keren Zwick, managing attorney for NIJC’s LGBT Immigrant Rights Initiative, who argued this morning on behalf of petitioner Edin Avendano-Hernandez. “These women’s fights for protection have reached the federal courts because the immigration judge who denied their cases failed to recognize their transgender identities, ignored the conditions transgender individuals face in Mexico, and demonstrated a total lack of understanding of the U.S. laws intended to protect them.”

 

Each of the women survived horrific sexual violence in Mexico perpetrated by a wide range of assailants including family, the police, military, and gang members. The oral argument before a Ninth Circuit panel including Judges Nguyen, Pregerson, and Parker suggested that the court was troubled by the government’s failure to consider the lived experiences of these individuals, and to consider the cumulative evidence of danger.  

 

A positive decision in these cases would have a significant impact on transgender women and other LGBT individuals who seek protection in the United States, many of whom are detained in isolated facilities where they are unable to find lawyers to help them navigate the complex legal system. 

 

The petitioners in the cases are represented by the Public Law Center; Snell & Wilmer LLP; Crowell & Moring LLP; and Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP. NIJC filed one of the amicus briefs in collaboration with five other non-profit organizations and attorneys at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP.