For decades, the U.S. was a leading destination for those fleeing persecution, offering refuge each year to more people than all other countries combined. But on the first day of his second term, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that abruptly halted a primary pathway for refugee resettlement—leaving thousands of LGBTQ+ asylum seekers displaced and vulnerable.
Sophia’s youth was defined by a climate of fear. She felt suffocated by the expectations of her conservative family and terrified to live authentically as a transgender woman in Jamaica, where her identity was not recognized and she had no legal protections.
At the time, the U.S. was in the midst of launching policy efforts to acknowledge the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, including the repeal of the military’s controversial “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy in 2011, a landmark Supreme Court marriage equality ruling in 2015, and a push toward banning conversion therapy for minors initiated that same year by former President Barack Obama. It seemed to Sophia like an inclusive place where she could, finally, stop being afraid and find peace.
Then, Trump abruptly suspended the program on Jan. 20, 2025.
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“The U.S. was projected to me as a haven for queer people, now it feels like a grave for queer people,” Sophia says, pointing to recent anti-transgender legislation and a rise in hate crimes against trans people in the U.S.
Her experience reflects a broader shift documented by Rainbow Railroad. Its latest data shows that, for the first time, an increasing number of LGBTQ+ citizens are expressing concerns about their future inside the U.S.
And for the first time, 30.9% of those requests came from individuals living within the U.S.
“Our data shows that the crisis is escalating in a significant way,” a spokesperson for Rainbow Railroad tells TIME.
“Once a desirable destination” for LGBTQ+ migrants, the U.S. “now tops the list of countries where citizens, and particularly trans people, are asking for help,” the report reads.
While the LGBTQ+ population that Rainbow Railroad works with is just a fraction of those impacted by Trump’s complete overhaul of the nation’s asylum and refugee systems, they are among those most vulnerable.
According to Bridget Crawford, director of Law and Policy at Immigration Equality, many queer and trans refugees who are fleeing violence and persecution on the basis of their gender identity or sexual orientation find it easiest to relocate to a geographically proximal country that is often “just as bad or worse than the country they fled.”
“It's from the frying pan to the fire—to another fire, to another,” Crawford says.
According to the Center for Immigration Studies, more than 233,000 refugees were resettled through USRAP during the Biden Administration. In comparison, from October 2025 until May 2026, the U.S. accepted 6,668 refugees—and over 99% of those were white South Africans, according to government data, most claiming race-related persecution in their home country rather than risk related to sexual orientation or gender identity.
“It used to be that if you were an LGBTQ asylum seeker, you would get asylum in the United States,” she says. “It was so straightforward, and that's just not the case anymore.”
Wolf tells TIME that the Trump Administration’s immigration enforcement agents have detained many of her queer and trans clients and attempted to deport several of them to what’s known as “third countries”—countries that are neither a migrant’s country of origin nor last place of residence—despite protection orders from judges.
In Uganda, for example, individuals who engage in same-sex acts can be imprisoned for life, while instances of what is described as “aggravated homosexuality” may be grounds for death.
“One of my biggest fears is that people will agree to self-deport—essentially agree to go back to their country of origin—because the fear of a trans person from El Salvador being sent to Uganda is, in some instances, more frightening or more dangerous,” Wolf says.
A different American Dream
With pathways for resettlement in the United States dismantled, advocacy groups like Rainbow Railroad have instead steered asylum seekers toward options like Canada’s Government-Assisted Refugees program. It offers permanent residency upon arrival, as well as access to healthcare, housing, and employment.
After traveling from her native Jamaica to Colombia, her asylum application was approved in January 2025 to resettle in America. She was waiting for her flight date when Trump’s executive order was issued. Stranded in Colombia and unable to speak Spanish, Walker struggled to pay for rent or groceries. Later that year she was cleared to relocate to Canada.
But with the greatest uncertainties and fears now behind her, she says: “Mentally and physically, I am doing way better.”
Years ago, Sophia saw the U.S. as a refuge. Today, she is preparing to build her future somewhere else.
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