22 Facts About Lorena Borjas

Lorena Borjas was a Mexican-American transgender and immigrant rights activist, known as the mother of the transgender Latinx community in Queens, New York.

Lorena Borjas lived for many years in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens, where she was a community figure and leader.

In 1981, Borjas emigrated to the United States at twenty years old, with the goal of obtaining hormone therapy and transitioning to live as a woman.

In 1986, Lorena Borjas was granted amnesty, under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.

In 1990, Lorena Borjas became a legal permanent resident of the United States.

Lorena Borjas was arrested many times during this period, which made her ineligible for green card renewal or naturalization.

Lorena Borjas was HIV-positive, and she saw many of her friends pass away due to HIV-related illnesses.

In 1995, Lorena Borjas decided to make activism her life's work.

For decades, Lorena Borjas worked to protect transgender victims of human trafficking, slavery, and violence.

Lorena Borjas hosted women who had been ostracized from their families in her own apartment until they were able to support themselves.

Lorena Borjas walked the streets seeking women who needed her help, providing condoms and food, and connecting these women to social services.

Lorena Borjas was that person who, if you got arrested, you called her at three in the morning and she would answer.

Lorena Borjas first came the Sylvia Rivera Law Project as a client.

Lorena Borjas eventually began working for the project on immigration and criminal justice issues.

Lorena Borjas became a counselor for the Community Healthcare Network's Transgender Family Program, where she worked to obtain legal aid for victims of human trafficking.

Lorena Borjas was not paid for the majority of her activism.

Lorena Borjas supported herself through a variety of jobs, including counseling sessions, community outreach, occasional talks, and cleaning houses.

Lorena Borjas founded Colectivo Intercultural Transgrediendo: the first community organization for TransGNB and LGBTQI people in Queens that advocates for TransGNB rights.

In 1994, Lorena Borjas was arrested and found guilty of facilitating a crime in the fourth degree, a charge dating back to her early years in the US, when Lorena Borjas was, in fact, a victim of trafficking and forced prostitution.

Lorena Borjas lost the immigration status she had gained under a 1986 amnesty law and lived under the threat of deportation.

Lorena Borjas died at Coney Island Hospital on March 30,2020, aged 59, from complications of COVID-19.

Lorena Borjas received memorials and tributes online from many public figures, including Chase Strangio, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Letitia James, Corey Johnson, and Monica Roberts.