Transgender illegal immigrants would in some cases receive taxpayer-funded hormone therapy while in federal custody, under new guidelines put out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The transgender provision was one of many in the latest "national detention standards" manual released by ICE. It has already drawn complaints from one Republican congressman, who described it as a "hospitality guideline for illegal immigrants."

The 2011 manual calls for detainees to be screened shortly after their arrival. That screening is supposed to examine everything from dental history to tobacco history to infections -- the last item on the checklist urges officers to ask about a detainee's "gender self-identification and history of transition-related care."



If they are transgender and if they were already receiving hormone therapy before arriving at the detention center, ICE prescribes that they should continue to receive that treatment.

"Transgender detainees who were already receiving hormone therapy when taken into ICE custody shall have continued access. All transgender detainees shall have access to mental health care, and other transgender-related health care and medication based on medical need.

"Treatment shall follow accepted guidelines regarding medically necessary transition-related care," the guidelines state.

ICE defended the provision.

Spokeswoman Gillian Christensen said it would only apply to those detainees who were already receiving hormone therapy -- in other words, a detainee could not decide once in custody to start taking it for the first time. Christensen cited medical reasons for the provision.

"Generally speaking, there could be severe adverse medical complications involved in abruptly terminating ongoing hormone therapy," she said, adding that such complications would cost even more money to treat.

A statement from ICE also noted that the policy is "in line to the policy of the Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons, and is the accepted industry standard."

Last week, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, charged in a statement that the manual is part of a "broader pattern made by the Obama administration to reward lawbreakers."

"The Obama administration's new detention manual is more like a hospitality guideline for illegal immigrants. The administration goes beyond common sense to accommodate illegal immigrants and treats them better than citizens in federal custody," he said.

But ICE noted that prisoners in criminal detention are different from those in ICE custody. "By law ICE is prohibited from detaining individuals for punitive reasons," the agency said in a statement. "ICE is only authorized to detain individuals in order to more efficiently effect their removal from the country. In that vein, detention reform is aimed at placing detainees in appropriate environments, based on their criminal or immigration history."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/03/07/ice-guidelines-allow-transgender-hormone-treatments-for-detainees/#ixzz1oVGKTB74

This is BS. Tax payers shouldn't have to pay for them wanting to be sickos.

Prison should be a punishment and not a reward. They need to be treated like the criminals they are. They should have to do HARD time. Work 12-16 hours a day breaking rocks in a desert prison camp. Should be in lockdown 24/7 when they arn't working. No TV, Radio, Internet only allowed books and books printed in English. Also all prison documents should be printed in English only (the cost of printing things in 10 different languages only costs taxpayers more money), if someone is caught entereing or being in the US ilegally they should be sentanced to a minimum of five years of hard time and also can never become a US citizen, ever.

incredible,,

living in a time where WE decide the gender we are instead of nature,,,,


and can force others to pay for our appearance to match our feeling?



I dont necessarily agree that inmates need to have to break rocks every waking hour , but I think this measure goes beyond humane treatment and into special treatment

most of these people are just trying to feed there familys

save the 24/7 lockdowns and hard time for the people at monsanto and big oil and the ceos that get no time at all

wheres the 2.3 trillion dollars that our government lost

what about all the banks that caused forecloses

and the steel mills and car companys we used to have

your food in the stores are toxic gmo experiments on the people


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twVlzwjuAtw&feature=related


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZYQjaX37nA&feature=related