European countries are lining up to warn their transgender citizens about travel to the USA amid fears of ‘indefinite detention’ at the border.
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump declared the US would only recognise two genders, the firing shot in an assault on LGBT+ rights in the US, which has included scrapping a directive preventing discrimination, and a ban on transgender people serving in the military.
This may create a stumbling block for transgender and non-binary travellers, whose visas, passports and other documents are now expected to list their ‘sex at birth’.
People whose legal gender differs from that, or who have an ‘X’ mark instead of ‘M’ or ‘F’, there is a fear they could be difficulty if they try to enter the US.
‘Confiscation of your passport and indefinite detention in an ICE facility is a real possibility’,TransActual director jane fae told Metro.
Among a series of people detained at the US border this month is a French scientist denied entry after immigration officials found messages critical of Trump’s policies on his phone.
It’s prompted numerous countries in Europe, including France, Ireland and Germany, to warn their transgender citizens about travel to the US.
A spokesperson for LGBT+ rights charity Stonewall Spokesperson told Metro: ‘LGBTQ+ people across the world are facing uncertain and turbulent times.
‘It is deeply troubling that one of the US President’s first actions upon taking office was to deny the existence of trans, non-binary and intersex people – a stance with alarming historical parallels.
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‘As the US and other countries adopt regressive and harmful policies that threaten to roll back rights, it is important that governments adapt advice for their LGBTQ+ citizens so they can make informed decisions about travel and keep as safe as possible when they choose to do so.’
An update to the website of Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs on Monday said: ‘ESTA and visa application forms to the US require travellers to declare their sex.
‘The US authorities have indicated that this should reflect the traveller’s biological sex at birth.
‘Travellers who have an “X” marker on their passport or whose sex on their passport differs from sex assigned at birth should contact the Embassy of the United States of America in Dublin for further details on specific entry requirements.’
Full list of European countries warning transgender people about travel to the USA:
- Austria
- Denmark
- France
- Germany
- Ireland
- Norway
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- The Netherlands
Some countries like the UK, and the USA’s Nato partner Canada, haven’t issued US-specific guidance for transgender citizens, which a transgender rights charity has called a ‘dereliction of duty’.
However, they do offer general guidance warning transgender people they could face issues with travel documents in countries where transgender people are not recognised.
This is a marked contrast with the specific advice issued by the UK in 2016 when North Carolina passed a bill banning transgender people from using bathrooms aligned with their gender identity, and Mississippi introduced a law allowing anti-LGBT+ discrimination.
TransActual director jane fae said: ‘Back in 2016, when the risks to travellers were less than today, the government, through its regular Foreign & Commonwealth Office briefs, issued a warning to LGBTQ+ travellers to North Carolina and Mississipi that was considerably more direct than anything government is doing today.
‘This advice stayed up until some point in 2017, when we were looking to appease an incoming Trump administration, and it was taken down.
‘Today, the risks to LGBTQ+ travellers are significantly greater. Confiscation of your passport and indefinite detention in an ICE facility is a real possibility.
‘Yet government is content to issue an anaemic warning that does not touch the seriousness of the situation.
‘They are putting lives at risk. In addition, by not issuing an official warning, those who are aware of the dangers and now wish to cancel their holiday bookings cannot obtain refunds.
‘This is dereliction of duty. It demonstrates yet again that government’s much touted ‘reset’ of relations with the LGBTQ+ community is just so much hollow rhetoric. If they truly want a reset, they need to do much better.’
More Trending
British woman Rebecca Burke, 28, spent 19 days in detention for falling foul of border security while trying to leave the USA after working in return for accommodation, a violation of her visa.
This crackdown appears not to be limited to those breaking immigration rules, however.
Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student at New York’s Columbia University, was detained by immigration enforcement agents who took him from his home on campus to a detention facility in Louisiana.
He has not been charged with any crime, but President Trump is pushing to have him deported, indicting it would be the first of many deportations of pro-Palestinian protesters
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