ICE

Did you see that Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) issued new guidelines for transgender detainees?

ICE issues new guidance on the care of transgender individuals in custody

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE), Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) issued further guidance to personnel on how to care for transgender individuals in custodial settings.

“The Transgender Care Memorandum reaffirms ICE’s commitment to provide a safe, secure, and respectful environment for all those in our custody, including those individuals who identify as transgender,” said ICE ERO Executive Assistant Director Thomas Homan. “We want to make sure our employees have the tools and resources available to learn more about how to interact with transgender individuals and ensure effective standards exist to house and care for them throughout the custody cycle.”

The memorandum addresses many elements of custody with regard to the treatment of transgender individuals.  These elements include:

Data Systems: appropriate data systems will be updated to record an individual’s gender identity, assisting the agency in data collection and informed decision-making.

Identification and Processing: comprehensive officer training and tools will be provided to ensure an individual’s gender identity can be identified early in the custodial life cycle to ensure care in accordance with the new guidance.

Housing Placements: the memorandum includes a voluntary ICE detention facility Contract Modification that calls for the formation of a facility-based multidisciplinary Transgender Care Classification Committee that will be responsible for making decisions related to searches, clothing options, housing assignments, medical care, and housing reassessments for transgender individuals.

This new guidance is the result of a six-month agency Working Group that examined these issues with subject matter experts, sought input from transgender individuals, and visited various non-federal facilities across the country to observe best practices. The full guidance is available at: http://www.ice.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Document/2015/TransgenderCareMemorandum.pdf.

Additionally, ICE also announced the designation of a new National ERO Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) Coordinator and each of the 24 ERO Field Offices will also designate local LGBTI Field Liaisons who will serve as resources for officers.

The Transgender Care Memorandum is intended to complement existing ICE and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policies and standards, including the DHS PREA Standards.

FUSION had this to say about the new guidelines,

Trans women may now be held in women’s facilities, immigration officials say
By Jorge Rivas and Cristina Costantini

U.S. immigration officials on Monday announced transgender detainees will for the first time be able to be housed in detention facilities that match their gender identity.

The update is part of an 18-page guide unveiled today that details how U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and contractors should interact with transgender immigrants in custody.
“We believe this guidance is the most comprehensive for transgender individuals in any custodial entity,” Andrew Lorenzen-Strait, the deputy assistant director for custody programs for ICE, told Fusion in a telephone interview Monday.

The announcement comes less than a week after an undocumented transgender woman named Jennicet Gutiérrez interrupted President Obama’s speech at a White House pride event.

This probably has been in the works for years but I wouldn’t doubt that Ms. Gutiérrez shook the tree and helped its release along.

ICE officials said today’s announcement was not a result of public pressure from advocates and that the new memo is a continuation of policies to keep transgender inmates safe that were released as early as 2009. The guidance is the result of a 6-month working group that included input from former and current transgender detainees, according to ICE.

There is also some news articles that said the guidelines are optional, VICE news reported that,

Despite ICE's new guidelines, the housing of transgender detainees remains an issue. Activists say ICE's new guidelines on housing and pronoun identification are merely recommendations, and that detention facilities are not required to adopt them. Instead, the detention facilities that want to adopt the guidelines specifically on the housing of transgender detainees can sign a so-called Contract Modification Template, ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice told VICE News.