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Transgender Suicide Prevention Hotline Founder Detained by Border Patrol
Nina Chaubal Taken Into Custody at Immigration CheckpointThe founder of a transgender helpline has been detained in Arizona at a random immigration checkpoint. When the van was stopped last Wednesday night, TransLifeline founder Nina Chaubal was detained.
Chaubal, who is originally from India, came to the U.S. in 2009 while she was in college. She worked as a software engineer at Google before founding TransLifeline in 2014.
When they married in 2015, Chaubal and TransLifeline co-founder Greta Martela thought that obtaining a green card would be simple. Paperwork issues delayed the process.
“Trans Lifeline Founder Held by ICE in Facility with Human Rights…” — @Translifeline https://t.co/z1dQ4CfHGi pic.twitter.com/Gy292dKqoq
— Kitty Bashes Back (@kittystryker) December 30, 2016
Because Chaubal is undocumented, she could be deported. However, Martela told NCRM that she has a reasonable case for asylum given that India does not recognize same-sex marriage and criminalizes sex between opposite-sex partners. Abuse and discrimination against transgender people in India is also common in spite of recent legal advances.
Read more: http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/carlyle_addy/translifeline_founder_detained_in_arizona
