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Trans Asylum Seeker Dies in ICE Custody After Being Denied HIV Treatment

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Johana Medina via Facebook.

Johana Medina, a refugee from El Salvador, reportedly died in ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) custody on June 1st, from HIV complications. Activists lamented the death occurred on June 1st, which marks the beginning of LGBT Pride celebrations worldwide.

Medina’s death was first reported by Diversidad Sin Fronteras, an activist group focused on helping LGBTQ migrants and refugees.

OJ Potaya a trans activist posted on Diversidad Sin Fronteras’ Facebook page:

This the latest info I have gathered from family and friends regarding Joa’s passing in ICE detention. Dates are approximate and they are gathered from phone convos:

Before April 11th: She had been waiting for her number #7326 to come up for her to present legally to seek asylum. She waited nearly three months in Juarez. 

April 11th: She presented to CBP in El Paso, Tx. According to testimonies from her boyfriend and other trans women present: “she was told she was not trans”, that “she was a man.” Unlike her other comrades, she was not paroled out but sent to Otero County Processing Center. 

May 21st: She calls her boyfriend to El Salvador telling him that she is not feeling well. She tells him she misses him and that was the last time he spoke to her. 

“From April 11th to May 23rd or 24th: Her health deteriorated. In El Salvador she was a certified nurse so she knew she was unable to take medication orally and in repetitive occasions she told ICE officers she needed an (IV) solution, that she could do it herself but she just needed the medication.”

May 23th-25th: ICE decides to take her to the hospital after she appears to be unconscious. According to family members, she was granted release on recognizance the day she was dropped off at the hospital.

June 1st: Her uncle and Grecia, a trans leader from Juarez are notified Joa has passed away in Las Palmas del Sol hospital at 9:05pm.

She was loved by all of her family including her grandma the main reason for her to travel thousands of miles to be detained in inhumane conditions. She was unable to practice her nursing profession as an open trans woman so her dream was to come to the US to get certified and make a living healing people.

We send condolences to her partner, family, and friends.

Think Progress reports that Grecia, a trans leader with Casa Migrante in Juarez, Mexico, accompanied Medina on her journey to the United States and stayed with her until the end. In a statement, she described how Medina had continuously asked for medical attention for health complications stemming from HIV/AIDS. She failed to receive proper care for two months until she became unconscious and was eventually transferred to a hospital in El Paso, Texas, where she passed away Saturday.

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