Building safety beyond politics at a safe house in Oregon

We are witnessing one of the most aggressive attacks on LGBTQ+ people in America in generations. It is heartbreaking, but in many ways, it does not feel new. In 2018, during the first Trump administration and amid the separation of mothers and children at the border, far less attention was paid to the growing number of LGBTQ+ migrants and trans people seeking safety in the United States. Their stories often went unseen.During that time, I helped build New York City’s first shelter for LGBTQ+ asylum seekers and refugees because it became clear that our community was falling through the cracks of existing systems. Today, the hostility toward migrants and LGBTQ people has only intensified.We are receiving messages from members of our community seeking protection who are now being ordered deported to third countries. We have heard from Senegalese asylum seekers being ordered deported to Uganda before their court proceedings were even completed. The administration is actively making it harder, and in many ways impossible, for vulnerable people to seek protection safely.We have long understood that the targeting of LGBTQ+ migrants often happens quietly, without widespread public attention. That is why we believe it is critical to build systems of care, protection, and community support during this moment of crisis. At a moment when politicians are spending millions of dollars convincing Americans to fear immigrants, building a home for them can feel almost irrational. Yet the need for that home has never been greater. Every month, LGBTQ+ people continue to arrive in the United States after fleeing imprisonment, violence, extortion, family rejection, and state-sponsored persecution, only to discover that safety is far more complicated than crossing a border.This week, Refuge America will open a safe house for LGBTQ+ asylum seekers and refugees in Oregon. We hope it will serve as a safe haven for displaced LGBTQ+ migrants across the Pacific Northwest, including Oregon, Wa