As part of the 2024–2025 Victory Congressional Fellowship, Sara Ahmed hosted a congressional policy briefing titled “Transgender Detained Individuals’ Access to Health Care in ICE Custody” on Wednesday, June 25th. The event brought together approximately 40 attendees, including legislators, advocates, and policy professionals, to address the systemic barriers transgender individuals face while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
In her presentation, Ahmed emphasized the urgent medical and human rights concerns affecting transgender people in detention settings. Her findings were drawn from an in-depth white paper titled “The Reality of Transgender Detained Individuals’ Access to Medically Necessary Healthcare,” which explores the structural deficiencies and inconsistencies in ICE’s provision of health services.
The white paper outlines key issues such as lack of access to hormone therapy, delays in treatment, and the failure to provide care that aligns with established medical standards for transgender individuals. Ahmed advocated for comprehensive policy reform and increased accountability to ensure that detained transgender persons receive medically necessary and affirming healthcare.
The Victory Congressional Fellowship is a program of the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute, which aims to build the next generation of LGBTQ public leaders. Ahmed’s work is an example of the program’s mission to address critical LGBTQ+ issues at the federal policy level.
The briefing concluded with a call to action for lawmakers and federal agencies to implement improved standards of care and accountability mechanisms within ICE to safeguard the health and dignity of detained transgender individuals.
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