Today, July 20th, is the 8 year anniversary of the
needless death of a 23 year old Latina woman of transsexual history named Victoria
Arellano that occurred in 2007 at an immigration detention facility in San
Pedro, California following weeks of sadistic neglect, transphobic male
violence and torture.
First, although she was obviously a woman, the bigoted ICE
officers inappropriately detained her in a male facility, even while knowing the
inevitable danger this misplacement would subject Victoria (or any trans* woman)
to - such as verbal abuse, trauma caused by misgendering, physical harassment
and/or sexual assault. It became terrifyingly transparent that ICE employees felt above honoring human rights protections for inmates, and targeting Victoria or any trans* woman with trans-misogynistic violence was just business as usual.
Shortly after arriving she had disclosed to the center of
her HIV health status and informed them of her specific prescription medicine (of
which her life span was critically dependent on).
ICE officers responded to Victoria’s request for medicine by
denying her access (even after learning it was lifesaving treatment) and confined
her to a cold cell: …alone, scared about
her now unsupported health condition, experiencing both physical and emotional agony,
stripped (yet permanently innate) of her womanhood and humanity by the violent state
that had undemocratically staged a trial, verdict and execution by two immigration her, and fears of never seeing her family and
loved ones...
For two whole months there were numerous opportunities for
the immigration [concentration] camp to behave with human decency, but instead
chose to enforce an informal ‘death sentence’ on an innocent young woman. It
didn’t matter when Victoria cried out in excruciating pain, or after she
visually shrunk in weight and energy, or even if she humbly knelt on the
concrete to pleadingly implore her captors towards compassion – absolutely nothing
would inspire those soulless henchmen to allow Victoria her cure, therefore forcibly
placing her life at the mercy of the state – which in essence then sanctioned
her unwarranted death, dare one say murder?
