Unanimous Supreme Court gives transgender woman from Guatemala new chance to fight deportation
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a transgender Guatemalan woman who is fighting deportation on the grounds that she would face persecution if returned to her native country. The court’s unanimous decision Thursday in favor of Estrella Santos-Zacaria gives her another chance to argue that immigration officials were wrong to reject her bid to remain in the United States. Lawyers for Santos-Zacaria, now in her mid-30s, said she first fled to the United States after being raped as a young teenager and threatened with death because of her gender identity. But a U.S. immigration judge found that she did not make a strong enough case that she would face persecution if sent back to Guatemala.