Asylum Seekers are being sexually assaulted in U.S. Detention

Twenty days after fleeing her small town in El Salvador last summer, Laura Monterrosa made it to the Texas side of the Rio Grande. The trip hadn’t been easy — Monterrosa described it as “one of the most horrible experiences” of her life. Though she occasionally joined other migrants on her 1,600 mile journey, Monterrosa largely traveled alone. She said she slept outdoors, begged strangers for food and spare change, and dug through the garbage for meals. Despite all of this, she said, the trip was worth it. Monterrosa had been physically and sexually abused by her family from a young age. Her grandmother forced her into prostitution when she was a teenager; her uncle beat her out of her sexual orientation — Monterrosa is gay — and raped her on multiple occasions. She had been the target of homophobic gang violence that culminated in a threat on her life. In the U.S., she hoped, things would be different — and most importantly, she would be safe.