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U.S. NEWS Friday 28 december 2018
Judge orders bail hearing for

asylum applicant held 3 years

By LARRY NEUMEISTER na, where his wife and four be unrest in the Ivory Coast,
Associated Press children reside. “I also note that there have
NEW YORK (AP) — An asy- She wrote that “his claim been significant calls for
lum applicant fearing polit- that his brother was killed peace.”
ical prosecution in the Ivory simply because they Attorney Craig Relles, who
Coast has been jailed for thought that his brother represents Kouadio, said
nearly three years after en- was in fact the respondent the depth of his client’s
tering the country legally, is a tenuous claim.” fears are underscored by
and a judge Thursday de- She added: “His claims to his willingness to wait three
cided he deserves a bail having been targeted be- years in U.S. jails for his day
hearing. cause of his political activ- in court.
Adou Kouadio entered the ity, especially while he was “He fled and left his chil-
country through an El Paso, driving the taxi, are not dren behind because he
Texas, border crossing in clear to this court.” was afraid of getting killed
February 2016 and was im- The judge said that al- in his homeland,” Relles
mediately detained pend- though there appears to said.q
ing an asylum hearing. He
denied in June 2017 and Transgender inmate gets rare transfer to female prison
had his initial application
has remained detained
amid an appeal of the de- By MICHAEL TARM “I feel inhuman,” Hampton
nial. AP Legal Affairs Writer was quoted as saying.
The written ruling by U.S. CHICAGO (AP) — A trans- While prison officials in most
District Judge Alvin K. Hell- gender woman serving states do have the option
erstein means Kouadio will a 10-year sentence in Illi- of assigning male-to-fe-
appear before a judge nois for burglary has been male transgender inmates
within two weeks to con- moved from a men’s to a to women’s prisons, it hap-
sider if he can be freed. women’s prison in what pens infrequently.
“Thirty-four months of de- could be a first for the state, The latest available federal
tention is too long without her lawyers announced data from 2016 indicates
an opportunity for bail,” Thursday. there were no transgender
Hellerstein said, adding Deon “Strawberry” Hamp- female inmates in Illinois’
that the case puts into ton , 27, was moved after a two female prisons; there
question whether an “in- yearlong legal battle and were 28 transgender wom-
definitely lengthy deten- resistance from the Illinois en in the state’s 24 male
tion of a non-resident” Department of Corrections. prisons.
seeking asylum violates the Hampton, of Chicago, re- In court filings, the IDOC
Fifth Amendment. quested the transfer in 2017 also cast doubt on Hamp-
“This nation prides itself on on grounds she’d be less ton’s gender identity — al-
its humanity and openness vulnerable to the sexual leging Hampton in initial
with which it treats those assault, taunting and beat- sessions with prison health
who seek refuge at its ings she was subjected to in workers never claimed to
gates,” wrote Hellerstein, male prisons, according to be transgender and, in the
who has won praise for federal lawsuits filed on her words of one filing, “was OK
17 years of work presiding behalf by the MacArthur This undated photo provided by the Illinois Department of with being male.”
over the bulk of litigation Justice Center and the Up- Correction shows Deon “Strawberry” Hampton. But clinical psychiatrist
resulting from the Sept. 11 town People’s Law Center Associated Press George Brown said in
terrorist attacks. in Chicago. a declaration to a fed-
A government spokesman She was moved within the added that the IDOC still guards and fellow inmates eral court that Hampton
declined comment. past week from an all-male hasn’t fixed “systemic fail- regularly singled her out for showed all the features of
A U.S. asylum officer con- prison in Dixon, in northern ures” that lead to abuse of brutal treatment at Men- someone convinced of
cluded Kouadio, 43, had Illinois, to the women’s Lo- transgender inmates. ard Correctional Center their female identity, add-
demonstrated a cred- gan Correctional Center “The fight for Strawberry in southern Illinois and ear- ing Hampton has identified
ible fear of persecution in more than 100 miles away and for all trans women in lier at Pinckneyville Correc- as female since the age of
his homeland based on in central Illinois, her law- IDOC has only just begun,” tional Center. While at the 5.
his political opinions. But yers said. del Valle said. Pinckneyville prison, she Brown also challenged the
after repeated delays in The IDOC’s hand was The IDOC confirmed the alleged guards made her department’s contention
Texas and difficulty getting forced last month by a fed- transfer in a brief Thursday and another transgender that Hampton could be a
translators, the case was eral court that found Hamp- statement, adding that the inmate perform sex acts greater risk to women be-
moved to New York, where ton had a strong case that agency “carefully consid- on each other as guards cause she hasn’t had sex
Immigration Judge Mimi her equal-protection rights ered Hampton’s housing hurled slurs and laughed. reassignment surgery, say-
Tsankov in June 2017 de- were violated. Her lawyers placement before mak- Unable to comfortably rep- ing such a view “conflicts
nied his asylum application said it was only the second ing the transfer.” In previ- resent herself as female in with all reliable medical
and ordered him removed. such ruling in the country ous court filings, the IDOC the male prison — where literature.” He said Hamp-
Tsankov said there was by a federal court. said one concern was she couldn’t wear her hair ton’s low testosterone levels
insufficient evidence to One of her attorneys, Van- that Hampton would pose or nails long — was devas- due to previous hormone
support his claims that he essa del Valle, hailed the a risk to female inmates if tating psychologically, ac- treatments meant she was
faces danger if he returns transfer as a victory for moved. cording to one filing from “functionally chemically
to the Ivory Coast or Gha- transgender rights. But she Hampton described how her lawyers. castrated.”q