By KRWG News
New Mexico – An advocacy group has filed 13 civil rights complaints on behalf of homosexual and transgender immigrants who it says were abused and neglected while in custody at detention centers run by the Department of Homeland Security in nine states, including New Mexico and Texas.
The complaints filed Wednesday by Chicago-based Heartland Alliance National Immigration Justice Center urge Homeland's inspector general and its Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties to investigate alleged mistreatment of HIV-positive detainees, denial of hormone treatments to transgender immigrants and policies of keeping homosexual or transgender immigrants in their cells for all but two hours a day.
The 13 immigrants cited by the complaints were held at Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.