I'm lawyering up
February 17, 2025 5:33 AM Subscribe
What kind of lawyer do I need to talk to about vacationing outside the US with an 'X' passport?
I had a trip to Mexico from New England planned for April, we had to reschedule for non-political reasons. I'm hoping to reschedule my trip for sometime this summer, I have an X passport and would like to have a pre-established relationship with a lawyer I can call in case I run into issues with customs. I have a variety of documents listing a variety of names, genders, and sexes and I want to discuss the situation, which docs I should bring with me, etc, if I make the trip. I also have ambiguous genitalia that often get flagged at security. Do I want an immigration lawyer? A trans specialized lawyer? Do I need someone licensed in my state, or someone with some sort of federally-recognized licensure?
Please limit answers to the scope of this Q, not interested in general fear-mongering or YANML legal advice. Open to recently published resource recommendations published by credible legal info sources.
I had a trip to Mexico from New England planned for April, we had to reschedule for non-political reasons. I'm hoping to reschedule my trip for sometime this summer, I have an X passport and would like to have a pre-established relationship with a lawyer I can call in case I run into issues with customs. I have a variety of documents listing a variety of names, genders, and sexes and I want to discuss the situation, which docs I should bring with me, etc, if I make the trip. I also have ambiguous genitalia that often get flagged at security. Do I want an immigration lawyer? A trans specialized lawyer? Do I need someone licensed in my state, or someone with some sort of federally-recognized licensure?
Please limit answers to the scope of this Q, not interested in general fear-mongering or YANML legal advice. Open to recently published resource recommendations published by credible legal info sources.
I assume the answer is yes, but do you have US citizenship (and a US passport)? It might change the answers people give if you are not a US citizen.
posted by plonkee at 9:52 AM on February 19
posted by plonkee at 9:52 AM on February 19
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My assumption would be you want an immigration attorney.
As a US citizen, you cannot be denied entry. That does not mean they can't detain you (or claim to doubt your passport belongs to you, which very nearly happened to me during the Obama administration).
If you're striking out, the orgs to try for referrals are A4TE (who are the Transgender Law Center merged with... someone I forget), Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Chase Strangio is reachable on Instagram, but presumably the last thing he needs is to be an attorney referral service, so last resort.
posted by hoyland at 9:08 AM on February 17 [1 favorite]