Transgender ICE detainee held in Texas returning home to Gonzales

GONZALES, Calif. (KION and CBSSF) A transgender woman from Gonzales who has spent the last 17 months in ICE detention is returning to her home in Gonzales, according to the San Francisco Public Defender's Office.

The office said 41-year-old Lexis Hernandez Avilez was transferred without notice from detention in California to Texas on Christmas 2018.

Avilez came to the U.S. when she was one year old, according to the Public Defender's Office, and became a lawful permanent resident when she was 21.

While in immigration detention in the Yuba County Jail after completing a sentence for a past conviction, Avilez, who was born male, was reportedly diagnosed with gender dysphoria and came out as a transgender woman. When that happened, she requested medical care, female clothing, to be identified by her female name and transfer to be held with the female population. The San Francisco Public Defender's Office said the jail used her female name, but did not provide hormonal treatment, clothing or housing with the female population despite advocacy efforts.

On Christmas Day, she was transferred to a detention center in Texas without warning, according to the Public Defender's Office. The office began representing Avilez in January 2019.

“Ms. Avilez suffered significant mental hardship during her detention with ICE,” said her lawyer, Hector Vega. “While struggling with her gender confirmation, she was placed in segregated confinement, denied hormonal treatment for months, and became suicidal as a result of these inhumane conditions. And yet, Ms. Avilez remained strong and has become an important voice for all transgender persons asking for humane treatment in detention. She is a kind and generous woman and we are happy her rights were ultimately upheld.” 

Vega filed a petition to legally recognize Avilez as a female, formally change her name and have her case reopened to request protection from torture abroad during immigration proceedings. When ICE and the Yuba County Jail did not provide her with hormonal treatment, the San Francisco Public Defender's Office filed a habeas petition to have her released because it said the government could not provide appropriate care for her as a transgender person in detention.

“Transgender people who are incarcerated are often misgendered and detained in isolation or with the wrong gender population,” said San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju. “In this situation, Ms. Avilez had the double risk of worsening health services on the inside due to ICE’s unwillingness to respect her identity, as well the risk she faced with respect to contracting the coronavirus.”

Earlier this month, the District Court granted the habeas petition and ordered a bond hearing. On April 16, an immigration judge found that Avilez was not a dangerous person and ordered her release, conditional on a $10,000 bond.

Avilez's family raised the money with help from Freedom for Immigrants. She is flying to San Jose Friday, and from there, she will return to Gonzales.

“Freedom for Immigrants is proud to support Lexis in her release by helping to pay a $10,000 bond through our National Bond Fund,” said Christina Mansfield, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of Freedom for Immigrants. “We believe no one should be imprisoned in abusive ICE jails and prisons. Lexis is a fierce advocate for not only herself, but for other transgender women incarcerated in our country’s inhumane immigrant detention system ."

Avilez is still trying to reopen her immigration case based on her gender transition circumstances, according to the Public Defender's Office, because she fears torture or death if she is returned to Mexico.