A transgender woman detained at Arizona’s Eloy Detention Center told officials she was strapped into a wheelchair, handcuffed and questioned for hours by detention officers after being accused of soliciting sex — an allegation that has not previously been publicly reported.

The account, shared by U.S. Rep. Yassamin Ansari during a recent interview with LOOKOUT, is among a series of disturbing allegations about conditions inside Eloy. It also raises new questions about how trans people are treated inside immigration detention, where LOOKOUT has repeatedly reported on the dangers and indignities they face.

Last week, 120 people detained in Eloy Detention Center, an immigration camp in Arizona, signed a letter alleging a variety of human rights abuses including prolonged use of solitary confinement, limited access to clean drinking water, innutritious food, and extreme temperatures.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement disputed many of the allegations, but after a significant reduction in oversight mechanisms for immigration detention, it’s increasingly hard to know what conditions are like inside. 

The increased opacity has also corresponded with an unprecedented spike in deaths of people held in US immigration camps. As the Department of Homeland Security seeks to continue expanding detention capacity, some lawmakers such as Ansari have taken it upon themselves to try to provide some level of oversight and accountability. By her own count, she has conducted 11 visits to immigration camps in Arizona. 

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LOOKOUTJohn Washington (he/him)

She has been a vocal and fierce advocate for Arbella “Yari” Marquez, a lesbian woman who has spent more than 15 months in Eloy suffering deteriorating symptoms from leukemia. More recently, she visited with Genesis, a trans woman who has been held for five months in the men’s unit of Eloy Detention Center. According to Ansari, Genesis has been suffering humiliation, exploitation, and solitary confinement. LOOKOUT has repeatedly reported on the extreme difficulties faced by trans people in immigration detention. (LOOKOUT is not using Genesis’ last name due to safety concerns.)

As an Iranian-American — the first Democratic Iranian-American to be elected to Congress — Ansari has also paid particular attention to the plight of detained Iranian asylum seekers. As news develops about how the US government has been allegedly sharing information with the Iranian government about those asylum seekers, even as the war continues and people face severe persecution and possible death upon return, Ansari has serious concerns.

She spoke with LOOKOUT about what she called “illegal” and “insane” immigration policies, as well as the deeply troubling conditions inside the detention camps.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

John Washington, LOOKOUT: You've now conducted 11 oversight visits to Arizona detention facilities. What has changed as a result, or what accountability mechanisms actually exist when ICE disputes your findings or denies you access?

U.S. Rep. Yassamin Ansari: Unfortunately, it's incredibly difficult to make real headway. One of the most important things we can do at this moment with all of the horrific circumstances that we're dealing with is to expose what's happening. Obviously there's a public element of exposing what's happening to change public perception and get more of the American public to speak up and speak out about these issues and demand more from their members of Congress.

When it comes to specific cases, it's very difficult. We know where we can make very specific tangible requests of ICE. One prominent example is Yari. With her, for example, we have been following up over and over and over again with very specific requests. Can you release her medical records? Can you allow her to go see an oncologist outside of the center? Each step is so cumbersome because they make it as difficult as possible. It's just a matter of being really diligent and following up and trying to push things forward. We work with immigration groups, like the Florence Project to try to give them information and move the cases forward.

LOOKOUT:  What can you tell us about Genesis, the trans woman currently detained at Eloy?

Ansari: She's 25 years old, originally from Nicaragua, and has been in the US since November of 2022. [In Eloy] she had somebody falsely accuse her of soliciting sex that she alleges is discrimination because of her being transgender. So she was placed in solitary confinement back in June, which she described as horrific and very jarring.

She also detailed an experience that I had not heard before which was that she was placed in a wheelchair and handcuffed, belted, and questioned for hours. She let us know that all of this took place on camera, so the footage exists somewhere.

She feels many of the employees, even those who are of different races themselves, have treated her and others in a racist and antagonizing way. She works in the kitchen there and she gets paid $3 a day, which is, in my view, essentially slavery. That is how people are forced to make money to buy anything additional they need from the commissary.

She said the food looks like vomit and there is often a foul odor to the water. She has seen people's hair falling out and teeth decaying because of the water. I could go on. AC hasn't properly been working for several months. The detainees continue to get used and dirty clothing. And on the topic of being trans, she did request to be placed with the females but was put in the area with other men.

LOOKOUT: Genesis is seeking asylum?

Ansari: Yes, she has an active case.

LOOKOUT: Moving to a related and personal issue for you, recent reporting and a federal lawsuit allege the U.S. has been sharing Iranian asylum seekers' case information with the Iranian government. As an Iranian American member of Congress who also does detention oversight — what's your reaction, and have you encountered Iranian nationals, including LGBTQ detainees, during your Arizona visits?

Ansari: I think it's insane. When I've gone to Eloy I've talked to Iranians who are asylum seekers and have been trapped inside the detention centers. I think that this administration, especially Stephen Miller who's the architect of all of these policies related to mass deportation, want to get as many people out of the country as possible. So they will do anything to make that happen, whether it be secret agreements with adversaries in this case, or agreements with countries like Panama and El Salvador, or countries in Africa where they've sent people who have no affiliation to that country whatsoever.

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LOOKOUTJohn Washington (he/him)

LOOKOUT: Is it illegal to share information, to even acknowledge that someone is seeking asylum, with the government of the country they're seeking asylum from? Is there anything Congress can do to stop it?

Ansari: First of all, it would have to be proven. But I think definitely that's what this lawsuit is trying to do: take a legal route and prove in court that this is happening. Obviously this is an administration that regularly breaks the law. Much of the oversight work will happen when we're in the majority when we can truly investigate laws that have been broken. I do think if laws have been broken, whether it's in the next Congress or a couple of years from now, people can be held accountable and prosecuted if crimes have been committed. 

There's nothing more tragic than what is happening to Iranian people in the country. This is a population that rose up and had historic protests in Iran in January, with many thousands scared by the government. Then we have our insane president who actually took to social media to tell Iranian people, “Help is on its way.” That definitely encouraged people because usually when the US President says something it means something to people, especially people who aren't here in the United States and don't follow the fact that he lies with every breath he takes.

Early on in the war, many Iranians were very hopeful and thought that perhaps something better would come. But the fact that we have this president who's a pathological liar and has never had a plan or strategy for this war, gave false hope to people early on. The truth is that during this entire time they were all continuing to deport people. 

When one of those flights was happening, I worked around the clock for a weekend trying to find any possible route to get to Marco Rubio to take people off of the plane. It's such a shame, it's such a moral stain on our country.

LOOKOUT: Did you get any response from Rubio or from anyone else?

Ansari: There were other members [of Congress] who were very helpful, as well as Senator Kelly. We were told through the grapevine that some people were removed from that flight, but it was not something that we were ever able to truly track to see where they are now.

LOOKOUT: Was this a flight from Mesa Gateway Airport? And did it occur after the war began?

Ansari: Yes, and this was during the war. I'm trying to remember, maybe March sometime. It was so egregious. Not only are you sending people back to a country they were seeking asylum from, but you're doing it at the same time that you're dropping bombs on that country.

LOOKOUT: Is there anything you suggest for regular people to do about detention conditions?

Ansari: People need to be calling and reaching out to federal elected officials and elected officials at the state level, the city level, about what's happening inside detention centers. And I know that can sound basic, but I don't think that most people are taking the few minutes to make those calls. And those calls really matter. Even in this political environment a lot of pressure on Republican members of Congress could matter, and they just need to hear it. They need to know that people care about what's going on.