Trans Activist: ICE Must Be Held Accountable for Trans Salvadoran Asylum Seeker's Death

Johana Medina, a 25-year-old transgender asylum seeker from El Salvador, died at an El Paso, Texas, hospital this weekend after spending seven weeks in immigration jail, according to several LGBTQ groups and advocates who knew her. Medina had sought medical treatment for nearly two months for complications related to HIV/AIDS before finally being transferred to the hospital last week. She died four days later. Medina is believed to be the second transgender migrant to die in or after being released from ICE custody since Trump became president. The other is Roxsana Hernindez Rodriguez, a 33-year-old Honduran transgender woman who died while in ICE custody in May of last year. An autopsy revealed that she was physically assaulted prior to her death. We speak with Isa Noyola, deputy director at Mijente and prominent transgender and immigrant rights activist based in Pheonix, Arizona.