A new report revealed that transgender and nonbinary immigrants in Los Angeles experience higher rates of poverty, homelessness, and unemployment, as well as greater disparities in accessing education and healthcare than non-immigrant trans and nonbinary Angelenos.

However, the report also showed that trans and nonbinary immigrants reported better mental health than non-immigrant trans and nonbinary Angelenos, were more likely to ask law enforcement officers for assistance, and more likely to run for or hold political office — all of which surprised researchers.

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While the study doesn’t necessarily reflect national trends — and was conducted before the president took office for his second term — it nonetheless paints a picture of the challenges faced by two groups increasingly targeted by the administration.

The survey, conducted by the TransLatin@ Coalition and the Williams Institute, asked 322 trans and nonbinary respondents living in Los Angeles about their life experiences. Of the respondents, 98 were immigrants. Of those 98, 66 identified as trans Latinas, 20 identified as non-female Latinos, and 12 identified as non-Latino.

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Immigrants experience higher levels of poverty and homelessness

Among the survey’s findings, approximately 73% immigrant respondents reported living at or below the federal poverty level, compared with 44% of non-immigrant respondents. The federal poverty level is $15,650 for an individual or $32,150 for a family of four. Approximately 47% of immigrants were unemployed, compared to 22% of non-immigrants.

Approximately 39% of immigrant respondents reported experiencing homelessness, compared to 19% of the non-immigrant participants, and 47% of immigrant respondents experienced unemployment, compared to 22% of non-immigrants. Additionally, 30% of immigrants had less than a high school or GED-level education, compared to 8% of non-immigrants.

Immigrant respondents were almost twice as likely as non-immigrant respondents to use public transportation to commute to work or school, and were nearly twice as likely to report an inability to get to work or school at some point in the last three months because of transportation issues.

Immigrant access to gender-affirming care is surprisingly consistent

About 30% of immigrant respondents reported being uninsured, compared with 7% of nonimmigrant respondents. As a result, 36% of immigrants reported their health as being fair or poor, compared to 23% of non-immigrants. Approximately 18% of immigrants reported not accessing any healthcare, compared to 8% of non-immigrants. And 25% of immigrant respondents said they felt comfortable accessing services from government offices, compared to 8% of non-immigrant respondents.

Interestingly, 35% of immigrant respondents reported having fair to poor mental health, compared to 43% of non-immigrant respondents.

The disparity could be due to “community organizations providing targeted services to help transport trans and nonbinary immigrants to and from appointments [and] culturally competent telehealth services, which do not require physically attending appointments,” the report’s authors wrote.

Also, equal percentages of immigrant and non-immigrant respondents reported having access to gender-affirming care, but while 21% of non-immigrant respondents reported the ability to access gynecological care, only 8% of immigrants reported the ability to access such care. Generally, non-immigrants were more likely to access gender-affirming care through a private medical system, while immigrants were more likely to access the care through a public medical system.

Another interesting finding: While 48% of non-immigrant respondents were likely to delay or not get gender-affirming care, 32% of immigrant respondents said the same. The explanation for these differences is unclear.

Many immigrants get legalized status, but experience mistreatment in detainment

Of the immigrant respondents, 63% had applied for political asylum status; 87% applied solely due to their LGBTQ+ identity; and 79% of those applicants received some form of legalized status allowing them to stay in the United States. A majority of those who didn’t apply either didn’t know how to apply, were afraid to do so, or didn’t think their applications would be approved.

Half of immigrant respondents had been held in an immigration detention facility at some point in their lives. Of those, 31% reported being physically assaulted in the facility, and about 12% reported being denied access to hormones. 19% reported being denied access to gender-affirming clothing.

Immigrant respondents were also twice as likely as non-immigrant respondents to feel comfortable asking law enforcement agents for assistance. Immigrants were nine times as likely as non-immigrants to have run for office in the last 12 months (9% vs. 1%) and five times as likely to have held an elected office in the same period (12% vs. 2%).

The 2024 presidential election “resulted in a shift in federal policy on both immigration and transgender rights, likely affecting many of the respondents to this survey,” the report’s authors wrote. Because the survey was conducted in 2023 and 2024, before the election, it’s likely that the current administration’s policies have increased the negative experiences of trans and nonbinary immigrants and non-immigrants alike.

Future research could further assess the barriers that inhibit trans, nonbinary, and immigrant access to social support services, including language barriers, a lack of culturally competent service providers, and other factors, the report’s authors wrote.

The survey was conducted by the TransLatin@ Coalition and the Williams Institute, in collaboration with the Royal Collection Corporation and the Connie Norman Transgender Empowerment Center (CoNoTEC).

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