Trans woman seeking asylum after pleading for medical help in US custody

Death of Johana Medina Leon, hospitalized following chest pains, echoes case of Honduran woman a year ago

Sam Levin in San Francisco
Mon 3 Jun 2019 23.34 BST First published on Mon 3 Jun 2019 22.33 BST

A transgender migrant has died after becoming sick while in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) custody, sparking renewed claims of medical neglect and human rights violations.

Johana Medina Leon, a 25-year-old asylum seeker from El Salvador, died Saturday at a hospital in El Paso, Texas, after she was detained for over a month and complained of chest pains, officials said. Leon had repeatedly pleaded for medical help and was held in poor conditions, advocates who had contact with her and others at the privately run New Mexico detention center said.

Leon’s death echoes the case of Roxsana Hernández, a trans Honduran woman who had HIV and died in Ice custody one year ago. Hernández died due to dehydration and complications related to HIV, according to her family’s attorneys. The tragedy sparked international outrage about the US government’s treatment of trans migrants fleeing violence and seeking asylum.

“It’s painful and gut-wrenching,” said Isa Noyola, deputy director of the immigrant rights group Mijente, who has visited the Otero county processing center where Leon was detained. “Ice is wreaking havoc inside our detention centers … They are in the business of making people unhealthy and violating human rights.”

-snip-