Sandra Galta, a part-time Sociology professor, unravels the vulnerability of women to rape, family separation and deportation of partners/spouses of the “UndocuQueer” population in the U.S and the hardships they face in the “Multiple Marginalization; The Intersection of Gender, Sexuality and Immigration” virtual public lecture. 

Galta began the lecture with a trigger warning as she touched on the serious topic of sexual abuse in immigrant women as they travel to the U.S. Galta then shared a PowerPoint as she dived deeper into the obstacles undocumented women face while in an abusive relationship in the U.S.

“Often times undocumented women are trapped in domestic violence, abusive relationships because of financial, mental, emotional and documented abuse,”  Galta said. “Undocumented women are often times afraid to call the police, because the police is directly connected to I.C.E, so calling in as a report, I.C.E can take information and deport people.”

Galta then talked about the deportation of partners and spouses. Galta said men are being deported at much higher rates. Immigrant men travel to the U.S to support their families either in the U.S or abroad. 

This then affects women “because now they are left without their spouse, their partner and provider and possibly with kids and now that means they have to figure out what to do next, this is a huge experience for women and how they experience this deportation regime,” Galta said. 

Galta then transitioned to the topic of LGBT and understanding queer migrants where she talked about complications of marriage and citizenship the LGBT community faces as they struggle for recognition. Galta also mentioned some of the U.S history with immigration preventing LGBT people from gaining refuge and prohibiting citizenships. 

As the lecture ended, Galta shared social media posts from Twitter and Facebook of the different experiences people shared from being queer and undocumented to being undocumented and Black. Galta also allowed participants in the lecture to ask more detailed questions if they had any. 

 “I’m first generation as well and my parents are immigrants from Nicaragua and so, on top of this being my academic field it’s also a part of my life experience growing up,” Galta said.