The woman saving trans lives at the US-Mexico border: 'Why would I turn my back on them?'

The shelter Susana ‘Susy’ Barrales runs in Tijuana has become a destination for trans women fleeing persecution and looking for support and healthcare

Justo Robles in Tijuana
Sat 17 Jun 2023 06.00 EDT

Susana “Susy” Barrales cuts a dash in downtown Tijuana, exchanging hellos with neighbors, friends and acquaintances whenever she heads out from her modest office, where the walls are adorned with framed awards from local government entities praising her advocacy work.

The shelter she runs in the city on the Mexico border with California has become a destination for many from other Mexican cities and countries in Central America, and beyond, who hear about it on the migration grapevine.

Her niche is using her own experiences to help transgender women who are fleeing persecution and looking for support and healthcare, often in Tijuana en route to the US.

Not long after Covid-19 was declared a global pandemic, several of Barrales’s friends in Tijuana started dying of complications with the virus. When many of them went to pharmacies or hospitals, nurses and doctors refused to help them because the patients couldn’t verify their identities, Barrales said.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/17/tijuana-transgender-women-shelter-us-mexico-border