San Francisico drag queen released from ICE and speaks out about "terrifying" experience
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After three months in ICE detention, a San Francisco drag queen has been released and granted asylum. Now, she is opening up about her treatment and experience.
Born in El Salvador and raised in Guatemala, Hilary Rivers was arrested on June 26 outside an immigration court, just a day after performing in the Miss and Mr Safe Latino pageant ( a contest founded to spotlight LGBTQ+ community issues).
She recounts how her friends warned her not to appear after stories emerged of arrests at courthouses under the Trump Administration.
“But I wanted to do things right. I knew if I didn’t show up, I could get an automatic deportation order. So, I went to court with my lawyer.”
She continued to describe the “terrifying” moment she was detained.
“They grabbed me, pushed me against the wall and shackled me. My lawyer tried to intervene but they pushed him aside. They put my hands and feet in chains. I’ve never been arrested before, it was terrifying.”
Rivers tells new outlets she was transferred to the Golden State Annex detention center in McFarland, California, where she and other detainees endured harassment and unsafe conditions.
She and other detainees "had to stand for hours because there was no space to sit, no air, and we were freezing."
"One person came into my room when the door was locked, and another time I woke up to someone touching me," she told the publication El Tecolote.
"I reported it using the tablet system and spoke to staff. They told me there would be an ‘investigation,’ but nothing changed. Later, I saw paperwork that didn’t match where I actually was housed, as if units were mislabeled."
At the end of September, Rivers was granted asylum and released.
Upon returning home, a GoFundMe was started to help her get back on her feet after she realized she had to replace everything she had lost, from vital documents to a safe place to live.
"We have to fight for our dreams," she told El Tecolote. "I paid a high price, but nothing is impossible.”
“Don't let them break you. Don't sign things you don't understand. Know your rights. We all have the same worth, no matter where we're from."
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