American seeks asylum in Canada over Trump’s transgender policies
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A transgender woman from Arizona who says the United States is no longer safe for the transgender community because of Donald Trump has applied for asylum in Canada.
Hannah Kreager, 22, has “fled” her home for Calgary, she revealed on a GoFundMe page.
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“I have fled in hopes of finding safety, security and the freedom to continue to live my life, and access/take my medications as prescribed,” Kreager wrote in the fundraiser, which she hopes will raise $5,000.
Kreager claimed that attitudes toward the transgender community “have grown increasingly intolerant” due to the influence of the Trump administration, which “takes basic rights away from trans people on the basis of nothing more than their identity.”
The 22-year-old noted: “The danger to trans individuals in the United States is very high, while the threat my community poses is exceedingly low.”
Kreager said she felt her only means of survival was to leave America.
“So I’m here in Canada with a terrific lawyer taking up my unprecedented case: Seeking asylum from the United States of America on the grounds of violation of human rights,” Kreager wrote.
“My case is a precedent-setting one, and if successful, could make asylum for trans people in the U.S. possible in currently pending, as well as future cases.”
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On the day Trump took office, he issued an executive order banning use of the “X” marker as well as the changing of gender markers.
The order says a person is male or female and rejects the idea that someone can transition from the sex assigned at birth to another gender.
Kreager’s lawyer, Yameena Ansari, told the Globe and Mail that she and other immigration lawyers have been flooded with inquiries from trans Americans about how they can move to Canada.
“This case is about safety,” Ansari told the publication. “It’s about whether Canada will recognize the threat Hannah faces in the U.S.”
To be granted asylum, Kreager must prove she has fled the U.S. because of a “well-founded fear of persecution,” according to the government of Canada’s website, meaning a return to America would put an individual at risk.
“When one right after another, one protection after another, is taken away from a community or a person, how many rights should she let go before acting in self-protection?” Kreager asked on her donation page.
“How long should she wait to seek help or safety? To me, with the election of Donald Trump after his campaign targeting immigrants and trans people, there is no time left to lose.”
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