"Noelia, a Central American asylum seeker to the U.S., was released from a private U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Georgia last week after more than 6 months in detention.
Noelia, who declined to share his full name and exact country of origin for fear it may hurt his chances of asylum, said he fled his home country after being raped by members of a local gang and experiencing a general climate of homophobic hostility. However, since arriving in the U.S., Noelia has not found any respite from abuse. He described his experience in detention up to this point as 'horrible.'
Noelia self-identifies as a gay man and uses male pronouns with most people. In his asylum application, Noelia said, 'I identify as a gay man, because I am attracted to men, but I am also still trying to figure out my own gender identity.'
When asked how often Noelia experiences abuse and harassment in detention, he told NBC News, 'This is happening every day.'
...Based on a new report from the Center for American Progress, a public policy research and advocacy organization, Noelia’s experience is not unique. The report found that LGBTQ migrants in federal detention centers are 97 times more likely to be sexually assaulted than other detainees."
