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By Fernando Reyes, from Comayagua

The body of Roxana Hernández was laid to rest in the city of Comayagua, Honduras, on Sunday, July 8. Roxana was a transgender woman of Honduran origin who accompanied the caravan of Central American migrants to the United States in early 2018, seeking asylum. Like many transgender Honduran women, her dream was to build a life in a place where she wouldn't face discrimination and where she could support her family and sisters.

Roxana died in May in New Mexico from health complications as a result of degrading treatment and denial of medication she needed by the Cibola Detention Center, after surrendering to request asylum from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

[READ ALSO: Why Honduras is one of the most dangerous places to be LGBTI]

Several international LGBTI organizations demanded that the Honduran Foreign Ministry release the body to the family, also denouncing to these authorities the serious situation faced by LGBTI people on the migration route between Mexico and the United States.

This effort successfully raised funds to facilitate the repatriation process, support the family, ensure an independent autopsy, and record information to stop the criminalization of migrants, especially transgender women currently detained in ICE facilities.

Roxana Hernández. Credit: José Gutiérrez

Colleagues arrested weeks ago

Rihanna Ferrera Sánchez, a transgender activist and candidate in the last general elections in Honduras, denounces that colleagues from organizations in the country have been detained for weeks: “Their situation is worrying, for example Chantal has been confined for three weeks, what they are doing is causing the murder of our colleagues after their detention, added to the denial of treatments for the illnesses of some people, it is practically impossible to be a migrant and continue with a treatment,” she told Presentes.

Roxana's case is far from unique. Activism has attempted to bring these realities to light, such as that of Victoria Arellano, a transgender Mexican migrant who died after being denied HIV medication while in immigration detention in 2007.

[READ ALSO: Honduras: The trans candidate fighting against discrimination and violence]

Suyapa Portillo, a Honduran lesbian academic and activist, studies the migration of LGBTI people  for the organization Transgender Law Center, which litigates on behalf of people who flee their countries of origin due to violence, discrimination and lack of opportunities.

“Repatriating Roxana’s body has been a very difficult task. Fortunately, we have had the support of people in the United States and Honduras who have collaborated to return the body to the family, to Roxana’s sisters, who have faced the bureaucratic and political difficulties of being related to a migrant, to someone who dies at the hands of ICE, and providing a dignified burial in their country of origin. Many don’t do it; these people just disappear, they die in search of better opportunities, a better life,” he told Presentes.

The struggle of activism: the absence of journalism

The Honduran Foreign Ministry only assisted with the transfer of the body. Activists from organizations such as the Cozumel Trans Association, the Association for a Better Life in Honduras (APUVIMEH), the Trans Feminist Association, and the Pink Unity Collective of San Pedro Sula are working to help other Honduran trans women who are currently detained and facing similar experiences to Roxana's, by bringing their realities to the attention of authorities such as the Minister of the Secretariat of Human Rights and the Director of Forensic Medicine.

Roxana's case received virtually no media coverage and went largely unnoticed in the country. A week later, national media outlets were unable to ignore the images of the treatment faced by Central American children separated from their parents by ICE in the United States.

“It’s important to understand that there is currently a policy of criminalizing asylum, including for LGBTQ+ people. It’s not like before, certainly not like in the 80s when you migrated and yes…you were detained, you went hungry, but then you could go out and make a life…have a life,” added Suyapa Portillo.

[READ ALSO: Shock in Honduras: Four LGBT people murdered]

At Roxana's wake was David Chinchill, one of the coordinators of the Pueblos Sin Fronteras (People Without Borders) caravans. A Honduran migrant himself, he dedicates his life to supporting people along their journey and had the opportunity to meet Roxana in Tapachula: “It's not the first time I've attended the wake of a Honduran I met along the way who has passed away. I knew Roxana's dream; it was like mine, like many of ours. They want to criminalize migration, and with negative pressure, like attacking the Caritas facilities in Tijuana and other Mexican shelters.

Originally from Comayagua, a city located an hour from Tegucigalpa, Roxana worked in hairdressing and decorating. Her family remembers her as very generous and always willing to help; she and her sisters ran a tortilla stand that helped them survive the last few years.

During the wake, her family members wore T-shirts with images of Roxana and her mother. Her sisters acknowledge that the case drew attention to the migration of trans women, even though Roxana wasn't an activist. Currently, many well-known activists have had to flee due to the persecution of LGBTQ+ people in Honduras.