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How Trump could impact U.S. LGBTQ+ asylum rules

U.S. President Donald Trump holds a signed executive order on cryptocurrencies, in the Oval Office of the White House, in Washington, U.S., January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
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U.S. President Donald Trump holds a signed executive order on cryptocurrencies, in the Oval Office of the White House, in Washington, U.S., January 23, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

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Reaching safety has never been easy for LGBTQ+ refugees, but the new U.S. administration could make it even harder

As Donald Trump entered office this week, advocates for LGBTQ+ asylum seekers fear people trying to reach the United States for safety will face greater obstacles and dangers under his administration.

Before he took office, Trump vowed to toughen immigration enforcement to make it harder for everyone to migrate to the United States.

Following his inauguration on Monday, he issued executive orders that suspend the government’s refugee programme and prevent refugees from entering the United States without more “stringent” vetting. Refugees are already the most thoroughly screened people to travel to the United States.

LGBTQ+ people facing persecution and seeking shelter in the United States may now face particularly difficult challenges, in part because of the Trump administration’s position on broader LGBTQ+ rights, as well as the already onerous process of winning asylum for one’s sexual identity.

Here’s what you need to know about the prospects for LGBTQ+ asylum seekers as Trump begins his second term.

Are LGBTQ+ asylum seekers recognized in the U.S.?

To be eligible for asylum under U.S. immigration law, a person must show a credible fear of persecution in their home county based upon membership in a “cognizable social group.”  

For decades, the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals has held that members of LGBTQ+ communities from certain countries qualify as such social groups. The first precedential ruling granting asylum based on sexual orientation in the United States came in 1994.

In the years since, the number of LGBTQ+ asylum claims in the United States have increased slowly. Data is difficult to gather because of limited U.S. and international government reporting on the reasons for asylum grants.

One report, by the Williams Institute think tank at University of California in Los Angeles, found that between 2012 and 2017, 11,400 applications for asylum in the United States were filed by LGBTQ+ people, while just 3,899 of these claims were made on the basis of their LGBTQ+ status. 

That may be in part because claims by LGBTQ+ people filed because of their identity are difficult to win.

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What challenges do LGBTQ+ asylum seekers face in the U.S.?  

Proving persecution can be a “protracted and difficult process,” said Rasha Younes, a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch’s LGBTQ+ programme.

Documentation and evidence, including government and civil society’s country reports on human rights abuses, play a crucial role. 

The success of claims for asylum by LGBTQ+ people is limited because U.S. law does not specifically define persecution, and the way it is interpreted can vary by institution or official. And immigration courts are more likely to consider asylum claims due to sexual identity, rather than sexual conduct, due to U.S. statutes. 

These make the usual tests for asylum eligibility more difficult. LGBTQ+ asylum seekers may struggle to prove their sexual or gender identity if they were not "out" in their home country, where they may have been at risk of persecution for doing so.

Asylum seekers told Context they are often asked inappropriate questions in the asylum process, such as questions around their religious beliefs and sexual history. Language barriers can also be a challenge, they said. 

How will Trump’s presidency impact claims?

A second Trump administration will “likely exacerbate existing challenges for LGBTQ+ asylum seekers,” Younes told Context.

“Trump's policies have historically undermined protections for vulnerable communities, including LGBTQ+ people, through stricter asylum rules and rhetoric that emboldens discriminatory practices,” Younes said.

In his first presidency, Trump sought to roll back anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people in the United States in settings such as healthcare, employment, adoption, school restrooms, housing and homeless shelters. His administration’s policies have been described as dangerous for the LGBTQ+ community. 

In another executive order on Monday, Trump required that the United States recognise only two sexes - male and female - rolling back the recognition of nonbinary or other genders. The order also requires that identification documents issued by the U.S. government, including passports and visas, be based only on “an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female”. This could have an impact on asylum applications made by transgender people.

Trump promised in his inauguration speech on Monday that he would reinstate his “Remain in Mexico” policy, which required refugees to stay in Mexico until their claim was scheduled to be heard in a U.S. court, from his first term. “All illegal entry will immediately be halted,” he said.

This policy applied to even those who were at greater risk of harm in Mexico because of gender identity or expression, disabilities and age.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recognised in 2021 that LGBTQ+ people may face “increased risk of harm in Mexico due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.” However, LGBTQ+ asylum seekers say they continued to be expelled even after expressing their fear of returning and telling border agents that they identified as LGBTQ+.

Human Rights Watch documented cases in which border officials returned LGBTQ+ asylum seekers to Mexico in Trump’s first term and during his successor Joe Biden’s administration.

Trump is now expected to "restrict access to asylum further and reduce protections for LGBTQ+ individuals facing persecution," Younes said.

This story is part of a series supported by Hivos's Free To Be Me programme.

(Reporting by Jade Wilson; Editing by Ayla Jean Yackley and Sadiya Ansari.)


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