Three plain-clothed ICE officers arrested Alice Correia Barboso, a transgender woman from Brazil, on Aug. 23, 2025, while she was driving her car in Silver Spring, Md. (Instagram screenshot)
The Department of Homeland Security on Aug. 27 said it plans to deport a transgender Brazilian woman who U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested in Silver Spring.
A video posted to Instagram shows three plain-clothed ICE agents removing Alice Correia Barbosa from her car on Aug. 23. One agent misgendered Correia before he and the two other agents placed her into an unmarked SUV.
A senior DHS official in response to the Washington Blade’s request for comment about Correia’s arrest referred to her by her birth name and described her as an “illegal alien from Brazil” who “overstayed his visa by almost six years.” The official also used male pronouns to describe Correia.
“He remained in the U.S. after his B-2 tourist visa that allowed him to remain in the U.S. for six months. Nearly six years later, he is still illegally in our country,” the official told the Blade. “Barbosa’s criminal history includes arrests possession of a controlled substance and marijuana possession. U.S. Border Patrol arrested Barbosa on Aug. 23, 2025, and he will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings. President Trump and Secretary Noem are committed to restoring integrity to the visa program and ensuring it is not abused to allow aliens a permanent one-way ticket to remain in the U.S.”
The Blade asked the official why they used Correia’s birth name to identify her and male pronouns to describe her.
“Because he is a man,” said the official.
Erika Hilton, a Brazilian congresswoman who is a Black travesti, on Aug. 24 said she asked the country’s Foreign Ministry to “intercede to guarantee the rights and physical integrity of Alice Correia Barbosa, a Brazilian trans woman who was arbitrarily, suspiciously, and violently arrested in the U.S.”
Hilton in her X post said Correia’s arrest is unconstitutional. Hilton further criticized the Trump-Vance administration’s overall immigration policy.
“Obviously, I don’t believe it’s fruitful to explain to the U.S. the illegalities committed by a Dorito-colored dictator’s little project,” said Hilton.
The Brazilian Foreign Affairs on Wednesday told the Blade the country’s Consulate General in D.C. “is monitoring the case, in contact with local authorities, and providing consular assistance to the Brazilian national.” Them reported Correia is in ICE custody at the Caroline Detention Facility in Virginia.
Brazil has the highest number of reported murders of trans people in the world. The State Department’s 2024 human rights report that “erased” LGBTQ people does not mention this fact.
President Donald Trump in his inaugural speech announced the federal government’s “official policy” is “there are only two genders, male and female.” Hilton and Duda Salabert, another Brazilian congresswoman who is also trans, earlier this year said the U.S. listed their gender on their American visas as “male.”
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