ROMULUS, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – What started as a simple traffic stop on I-94 turned into a full-blown immigration saga when Romulus police contacted Border Patrol after pulling over “Alexa,” a trans immigrant from Honduras living in Ypsilanti without legal status.

Instead of paying a fine for speeding, the trans illegal immigrant posing as a woman but born as a biological man, found himself in federal custody. He was first held under the glaring lights of a Border Patrol cell, then shipped to county jails, including in Ohio, where his attorney alleges mistreatment and discrimination.

Appropriate gender-affirming care – on whose dime?

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According to a report from the Detroit Free Press, Alexa’s attorney, Ruby Robinson of the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, insists her client was denied “appropriate gender-affirming care,” specifically hormone treatments, while in custody. The attorney further alleges that her client was groped and assaulted after being denied housing with female detainees, forced to sleep under constant lighting, deprived of regular shower access or a blanket, and denied timely access to an interpreter in Ohio, despite Spanish being his only language.

Robinson argues that being denied hormone treatments led to health issues ranging from “breast pain” to depression, maintaining that detainees – regardless of immigration status – should have taxpayer-funded access to hormone therapy behind bars.

Critics see it differently: Alexa isn’t a U.S. citizen, has no legal status, and faces deportation. Yet somehow, the conversation has drifted from enforcing immigration law to debating whether ICE detention centers should function as gender-affirming care clinics.

Jailhouse protocols vs. activist demands.

Law enforcement, for their part, has denied claims of mistreatment. Butler County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Anthony Dwyer flatly rejected any claims of abuse, saying, “There was no record of an incident.” He also drew a hard line saying, “We do not put biological males with biological females. We just do not do that. That is asking for trouble, and it’s been trouble around jails in this whole country.”

Still, Robinson and allied advocates argue the system is failing vulnerable immigrants. The ACLU has already sued over Trump’s executive order restricting gender-affirming care in prisons, and activists are framing Alexa’s case as Exhibit A.

A broader political flashpoint.

Alexa’s story hits at the intersection of three of today’s most heated debates: illegal immigration, transgender rights, and taxpayer spending. Advocates say Alexa came to the U.S. fleeing discrimination in Honduras and is now receiving discrimination in America. Opponents say that entering the country illegally doesn’t entitle Alexa to taxpayer-funded medical treatments while in custody.