LA PUBLIC PRESS | Trans immigrants in LA County face severe poverty and safety threats

A UCLA study found 40% of trans immigrants in LA County are homeless and 54% of transgender Latinas unemployed—rates far exceeding other populations.

by Jireh Deng

Bamby Salcedo conducts a client intake at the TransLatin@ office in Los Angeles. Paolo Riveros/The TransLatin@ Coalition.

As everyone in Los Angeles knows, housing is expensive. In one of the most pricey places to live in the world, almost one in 10 residents has experienced homelessness. The scarcity of affordable housing is even more challenging for marginalized communities. 

Immigrants are more likely to face eviction and live in overcrowded conditions, and LGBTQ people have higher rates of poverty and homelessness than the general population.

A new study published this month by the UCLA Williams Institute and The TransLatin@ Coalition put numbers to the intersection of these communities in Los Angeles County. In surveying 98 immigrants who identified as transgender or nonbinary in 2023 and 2024, the study’s authors found major poverty and homelessness challenges among transgender and nonbinary immigrants. Almost three in four transgender immigrants reported living near or under the federal poverty line; additionally 40% indicated that they were homeless.