For transgender migrants fleeing death threats, asylum in the US is a crapshoot
MATAMOROS, Mexico - As has happened so often in her life, Mayela Villegas once again faced the threat of violence.
It was a late afternoon in September and she was alone. Hundreds of other asylum-seekers camped at the foot of the U.S.-Mexico border bridge were resting before volunteers arrived with dinner.
Suddenly, a fellow Central American migrant appeared at her tent, growling threats.
"I don't want any problems," said Villegas, a slight figure with long brown hair and red lipstick.
"What problems?" the woman said. "The only problem would be how to take a knife and gut you. You wouldn't be the first or the last. You're worthless - annoying. You'll never compare to me because I have a vagina and you don't."
Villegas is transgender. She had stayed at the bridge in hopes of obtaining asylum in the United States to escape such threats.
The Honduran woman threatening her was dating a member of a Mexican drug cartel. Villegas tried to appease the woman by acknowledging she had powerful friends, even as Villegas secretly recorded their encounter on a cellphone.
"Yes," the woman snarled before leaving for her nearby tent. "You know how this is going to end."
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