One of them is Sophia, who had already left her home country before learning that her pathway to a future in the U.S. had suddenly closed.
Sophia’s youth was defined by a climate of fear. She felt suffocated by the expectations of her conservative family and terrified to live authentically as a transgender woman in Jamaica, where her identity was not recognized and she had no legal protections.
“For me, in particular, as a trans woman—as a Black trans woman—I felt like I had to always hide myself,” Sophia, who asked to use a pseudonym for fear of harassment, tells TIME. “I felt unsafe, hearing all the stories about other trans women in Jamaica being killed or assaulted.”
At the time, the U.S. was in the midst of launching policy efforts to acknowledge the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, including the repeal of the military’s controversial “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy in 2011, a landmark Supreme Court marriage equality ruling in 2015, and a push toward banning conversion therapy for minors initiated that same year by former President Barack Obama. It seemed to Sophia like an inclusive place where she could, finally, stop being afraid and find peace.