A transgender woman from Brazil has come forward with harrowing allegations about her treatment while being detained at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba. The woman, Tarlis Marcon De Barros Goncalves, arrived in the U.S. seeking asylum on February 15 after facing ongoing threats to her safety in Brazil. However, her journey through the U.S. immigration system took a shocking turn when she was detained at the Otero County Processing Center in New Mexico before being transferred to Guantanamo Bay just over a week later.
Goncalves, who fled Brazil due to targeted violence, claims she endured serious mistreatment during her detention, including inadequate food, lack of privacy, and denial of access to her lawyer and family. She says she was placed in a cell with five men at Guantanamo Bay, where she felt unsafe and violated due to the absence of basic privacy, such as during bathroom visits and showers. Goncalves recounted being forced to expose herself to others because the cell lacked any partitions or doors to ensure her privacy.
Throughout her detention, Goncalves says she repeatedly informed authorities of her gender identity as a transgender woman and requested to be housed in a more appropriate setting for her safety. However, her concerns were reportedly ignored, and she continued to endure uncomfortable and unsafe conditions. She was subjected to routine strip searches by male guards and granted minimal outdoor time—only 25 minutes per day.
Perhaps most distressing, Goncalves claims she was denied her right to contact a lawyer or her family. Despite expressing her fear of returning to Brazil, where she faced life-threatening dangers, she says ICE refused her repeated requests for communication. According to her legal complaint, she was never informed about her legal right to contact an attorney.
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On May 2, Goncalves was released from Guantanamo Bay after enduring what she described as a “dehumanizing” experience. Her complaint is part of an ongoing legal battle against the U.S. government, with civil rights groups challenging the practice of detaining immigrants at Guantanamo Bay. The case, Espinoza Escalona v. Noem, includes plaintiffs who are suing to stop the transfer of immigrants to the naval base, citing violations of U.S. immigration laws.
Guantanamo Bay has once again become a focal point under the Trump administration’s controversial approach to immigration, as authorities have faced mounting legal pressure from civil rights advocates who argue that the detention of migrants at the base violates both U.S. law and international human rights standards. Last month, in response to ongoing litigation, U.S. officials began removing detained migrants from the base as the court weighed in on the legal challenges.
The lawsuit and Goncalves’ testimony highlight the ongoing debate over the Trump administration’s immigration policies and the treatment of asylum seekers. Advocates argue that the U.S. government’s actions violate the rights of migrants and undermine basic principles of human dignity and fairness.
As legal challenges continue, the future of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility as a site for holding asylum seekers remains uncertain.