Estrella, Revisited

Estrella, Revisited

By Futuro Media and PRX

In February of 2017, ICE agents arrested Estrella, an undocumented trans woman, inside an El Paso courthouse. Estrella was there after filing for a protective order, testifying in a domestic abuse hearing against her U.S. citizen ex-boyfriend. Her case became national news — it was the first time that federal immigration agents had ever arrested someone at court. Estrella was later sentenced to serve nine years behind bars for a non-violent crime that she has always maintained her abuser forced her to participate in. In this episode of Latino USA Estrella takes us into the maximum-security Texas men's prison where she is serving out her sentence. Through intimate phone conversation with Maria Hinojosa, we follow Estrella through her first years of incarceration — through the joys of transitioning and finally feeling at home in her body, to the dangers that come from being a woman in one of Texas' most infamous men's prisons. We also learn about a surprising accusation that puts Estrella's relationship with Maria at risk.

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