Trans Asylum Seeker Support Network (TASSN) is a left-of-center activist group that offers legal support and services to immigrants detained within the United States who identify as transgender. ^{1 2}

The group claims to be “border-abolitionist” while advocating for the protection of “Trans and Genderqueer asylum seekers.” ^{1 2}

Activities

Trans Asylum Seeker Support Network (TASSN) has previously claimed to be a  “highly structured and dedicated decolonial anarchist mutual aid collective spread across Turtle Island.” According to indigenous activist groups, Turtle Island is an old Native American name for the United States of America. ^{3 4 5} The group claims it is “not a nonprofit” while further claiming to have no paid employees. In addition, it alleges that funding it raises goes towards external advocacy materials including “Zoom subscriptions, flyers, [and] merchandise.” ³

The group claims it teaches migrants and asylum seekers identifying as transgender  “anti-imperialist politics, legal knowledge and skills, language justice, [and] Spanish skills.” It also claims to help them find and access “legal support,” “gender-affirming healthcare,” and “transportation.” ³

Financials and Funding

Trans Asylum Seeker Support Network (TASSN) offers legal and educational services to migrants and asylum seekers within the U.S who identify as transgender. The site contains individual links to stories on transgender individuals who claim to have faced scrutiny while asking for donations towards food, shelter, or rent and have accused U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of “abuse.” ^{1 2 6}

TASSN has received funding from Resist, a left-of-center grantmaking nonprofit organization. ⁷

1. “Trans Asylum Seeker Support Network.” Facebook. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://www.facebook.com/transasylumsupport/.
2. “Trans Asylum Seeker Support Network.” GiveButter.com. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://givebutter.com/TASSN?fbclid=IwY2xjawIXREVleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHSXBR9ylSWr3SvTDXSkHiszG80kkvqIcPplwFBX0RHT2R2iuf3ZbGdsQNw_aem_yYFSG_GOi7FyRXgXOw4dRA
3. “TASSNxSupport.” GiverButter.com. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://givebutter.com/TASSNxSupport.
4. “Turtle Island” Deadly Story. Accessed February 2, 2025. https://deadlystory.com/page/culture/articles/World_s_Indigenous_Peoples_Day/Turtle_Island
5. “Turtle Island.” Urban Native Collective. Accessed February 2, 2025. https://urbannativecollective.org/turtle-island.
6. “Support Ashley.” GiveButter.com. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://givebutter.com/SupportAshley.
7. “Grantees – Trans Asylum Seeker Support Network.” Resist. Accessed February 10, 2025. https://resist.org/grantees/.