A protester outside the 2025 BAFTA Awards made a bold statement against the internment and de facto forced statelessness of trans people in the US, wearing a t-shirt that read “No Passport, No Escape” on the front and “Trans People Are Being Interned in the US” on the back:
The protest, organised by the action network Keep Trans People Alive comes as reports emerge that trans people, particularly those with gender marker changes, are having their passports confiscated or indefinitely held, effectively trapping them in a country where their rights and safety are rapidly deteriorating.
Trans people: confiscations in passport offices
The crisis stems from an Executive Order issued under Donald Trump in his first day in office, which formally ended the issuing of non-binary ‘X’ passports. While the order stated that previously issued passports would remain valid, enforcement has gone far beyond its scope.
- Passport renewals for trans people are being indefinitely stalled, leaving them without valid identification.
- Cases of confiscations in passport offices are emerging, including that of a US citizen living in Portugal who reportedly had their passport forcibly confiscated while surrounded by three security guards and a well-known Instagram influencer in Los Angeles.
- State Department employees, posting anonymously on Reddit, claim that all passport applications are being cross-checked against every document ever submitted to look for evidence of past gender changes.
This policy sets a dangerous precedent for mass surveillance, disproportionately targeting trans individuals and creating de facto travel bans. Without valid identification, trans people are being denied the ability to flee worsening conditions in the US.
The denial of valid identification has far-reaching consequences beyond just the ability to travel. Without proper identification, trans people can be denied access to employment, education, healthcare, and social benefits, and even face the risk of property confiscation.
Why trans people can’t escape
The overwhelming barriers to emigration for trans people are compounded by the fact that most immigration systems are structured around income, work, and full-time education. Given that they face disproportionately high rates of poverty, unemployment, and disability, they are effectively locked out of legal migration pathways altogether. This means that even those who recognize the growing danger in the US and desperately want to leave find that they have no viable route to do so.
- In the US, 29% of trans adults live in poverty, compared to 12% of cisgender people.
- Trans people face an unemployment rate of 15%, over three times the national average.
- Nearly half (48%) of trans people have a disability, barring them from immigrating to countries such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
These economic and social barriers prevent trans people from relocating, even within the US, let alone internationally. The situation is further complicated by the fact that US citizens cannot claim asylum in other countries due to international agreements.
No asylum, no support, no way out
Because the US is classified as a “safe country” under international law, trans people cannot claim asylum abroad. The Safe Third Country Agreement with Canada, for example, prevents US citizens from seeking refuge there.
Daria Bloodworth, a trans woman who attempted to claim asylum in Canada was initially successful but later had her case in a Federal court, with appeals still ongoing. There are no existing international protections specifically for trans refugees from the US and no major NGOs are equipped to assist people fleeing persecution from the US,
A grassroots initiative, TRANSport, was founded in 2023 by people attempting to escape targeted persecution. However, in October 2024, founder Rynn Willgohs tragically died by suicide in Finland while seeking asylum, extinguishing hopes that the group could provide aid.
A deadly reality: suicides and murders of trans people on the rise
The crisis in the US is already claiming lives.
Elisa Rae Schupe, a trans veteran, died by apparent suicide, hanged from a VA hospital draped in a trans flag.
Sam Nordquist, a 24-year-old Black trans man, was tortured and murdered by a group of five white people.
Suicides among trans people have surged, with community networks reporting alarming increases in crisis interventions. These deaths highlight the desperation of people who see no way out. Forced detransition, loss of healthcare, and state violence are driving many to hopelessness, self-harm, and death.
A genocide in progress?
Under the UN definition, genocide includes acts intended to destroy a group “in whole or in part”, such as:
- Killing members of the group (murders, suicides driven by persecution).
- Causing serious bodily or mental harm (forced detransition, loss of healthcare).
- Deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about its destruction (passport seizures, poverty, loss of legal rights).
While some may hesitate to call it genocide, the systemic destruction of trans lives and the active prevention of escape mirror historical genocidal processes.
The limits of legal resistance
While there have been some legal challenges to the escalating persecution of trans people in the US, they are limited in scope, unlikely to hold under the current judicial system, and incapable of addressing the extra-legal actions already underway. The federal courts, stacked with far-right judges, and a Supreme Court openly hostile to civil rights, make it increasingly clear that precedents protecting trans people are at risk of being overturned. Even where lawsuits succeed, they do not address the extrajudicial enforcement measures—or the immediate harm and rising death toll.
The ACLU has filed a lawsuit (Orr v. Trump) challenging the executive order restricting trans people’s ability to obtain passports, arguing that it violates constitutional protections such as the right to travel and privacy rights under the Due Process Clause. However, even if this lawsuit succeeds, it will not help those who have already had their passports indefinitely held or confiscated. Nor can it stop the broader trend of extra-legal persecution, including document seizures, targeted surveillance, and bureaucratic stonewalling that are already trapping trans people inside the US.
Similarly, another case, PFLAG v. Trump, has temporarily blocked the federal ban on trans healthcare for minors. Yet this injunction is only temporary and applies solely to federal enforcement—it does not overturn the 26 state-level bans that remain in effect. Moreover, this lawsuit does nothing for adults, who face denied care, forced detransition, and a collapsing medical infrastructure as providers refuse to treat them out of fear.
“There is no system in place to stop this”
Erik M, a spokesperson from Keep Trans People Alive, the action network behind the BAFTAs protest, issued a stark warning:
An alarming number of people who aren’t currently being targeted have this magical thinking that because there should be help, it exists. That because genocide is illegal, something is stopping it. But no existing institution has the authority to stop it. Direct action from individuals is the only real means of survival.
Trans people need jobs, housing, shelter, protection and financial help—now. Complicity is not passive. Waiting for institutions to intervene while doing nothing to help actual trans people is not just inaction—it is collaboration with the genocidal processes already underway.
Featured image and additional images supplied
