Rep. Al Green demands gender-affirming care for detained immigrants

Representative Al Green (D-Texas) held a press conference in Houston to demand that the Department of Homeland Security provide hormone treatments and gender-affirming procedures for transgender immigrants held in ICE detention facilities.

Speaking alongside the Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus and the Montrose Center, Green characterized the current lack of specialized medical care as a “hazardous condition” resulting from deliberate agency policies. He argued that the denial of such care can lead to physical and mental health complications and noted that transgender individuals in detention are sometimes placed in solitary confinement or with men.

Green compared the treatment of transgender migrants to the racial discrimination he has personally experienced, stating, “We cannot allow people to be punished because of who they are.” Daron Perez of the Montrose Center supported these claims, citing an instance where a transgender community leader was reportedly denied access to testosterone treatments while in custody.