PORTLAND, Ore. — The Department of Homeland Security says a transgender woman seeking asylum, detained immediately following an immigration hearing in a federal courtroom in Portland, is not at risk for immediate deportation.

The 24-year-old Mexican woman, identified as O-J-M by her attorneys, entered the United States in September 2023. She had been living in Oregon and Vancouver, Wash. She had been seeking asylum after members of a Mexican cartel raped and threatened to kill her because of her sexual orientation and gender identity, according to her attorneys.

On Thursday, DHS responded to a petition seeking O-J-M's release.

In legal filings, a DHS and ICE officer said O-J-M claimed fear of returning to Mexico while she was being detained on Monday.

As a result, she is referred to

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