Arely Westley, an undocumented transgender woman who grew up in New Orleans, spent six months in immigration detention in her youth. She didn’t want anyone else to have to experience the cruelty, confusion and isolation of detention.
After her release, community organizers helped her find safe housing, inspiring her to fight for other trans migrants navigating the system alone. Westley met with trans detainees in immigration facilities across the state to connect them with attorneys, raised commissary funds and campaigned to shut down facilities that had histories of abuse.
In 2024, she was honored by the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Center — recently renamed the Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center — for her work, earning its annual human rights award. At the ceremony, Westley spoke about surviving human trafficking, as well as her horrific experiences while being detained.
When Donald Trump returned to the White House last year after campaigning on a platform that denigrated trans people and immigrants, Westley was working as a campaign director at BreakOut!, an organization helping Black and Latinx trans youth. She was in the process of obtaining a special visa for trafficking survivors and had received gender-affirming surgeries. Her home was a place where she felt safe, and she could be surrounded by her 10 dogs, two cats, bunnies and chickens.
