NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� A judge on Wednesday ordered the federal Bureau of Prisons to transfer two transgender women inmates back to federal women鈥檚 prisons after they had been sent to men鈥檚 facilities in the wake of President executive order that .
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington issued a preliminary injunction after the women were added as plaintiffs in ongoing litigation over the impact of Trump鈥檚 executive order on transgender women in federal prisons.
Lamberth ordered the federal to 鈥渋mmediately transfer鈥� the two women 鈥� identified in court papers by the pseudonyms Rachel and Ellen Doe 鈥� back to women鈥檚 facilities and said the agency must continue to provide them with hormone therapy treatment for gender dysphoria.
The women said in court papers that they were living in constant fear of sexual assault and other violence after being moved to male prisons. Male inmates repeatedly propositioned them for sex and male officers subjected them strip searches without female officers present, they said.
鈥淭he fact that they have already been transferred and, allegedly, have been abused at their new facilities can only strengthen their claims of irreparable harm,鈥� Lamberth wrote.
A Bureau of Prisons spokesperson declined to comment.
The preliminary injunction is the latest in a series of rulings thwarting the agency鈥檚 efforts to comply with the executive order, which calls for housing transgender women in men鈥檚 prisons, and for halting gender-affirming medical care.
Lamberth, who was appointed by Republican President , previously blocked the bureau from transferring a dozen other transgender women inmates to men鈥檚 prisons.
In a ruling last month, he order that their 鈥渉ousing status and medical care鈥� remain as they were prior Inauguration Day, when the president signed the executive order. Separately, in January, a federal judge in Boston halted the transfer of another transgender women鈥檚 to a men鈥檚 prison.
At the time, Rachel and Ellen Doe were not plaintiffs to any lawsuit challenging Trump鈥檚 executive order and were not covered by Lamberth鈥檚 initial rulings.
In a court filing last month, a Trump administration official said that as of Feb. 20, there were 22 transgender women housed in federal women鈥檚 facilities. That鈥檚 about 1% of the nearly 2,200 transgender inmates the agency said it has in its custody.
With Lamberth鈥檚 order Wednesday, at least 15 people are now covered by orders blocking or reversing the moves.
Lamberth has yet to rule in a lawsuit filed last week by three other inmates 鈥� a transgender woman housed in a men鈥檚 prison and two transgender men housed in women鈥檚 prisons. They are challenging the executive order鈥檚 ban on gender-affirming hormone therapy and other care.
Michael R. Sisak, The Associated Press
