Milena Rivera , left, rides the subway with her sponsor Jessica Guaman to help her get benefits on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023 in New York City. Guaman works as a sponsor and helps people in the transgender community navigate multiple systems including food, health care, housing and finding a lawyer. Rivera is seeking asylum in the United States after fleeing her country of El Salvador. Rivera said she feared for her life being a trans woman living in the country. She dreams of getting married, adopting a child and having a family. Guaman is a transgender woman from an indigenous community in Ecuador of roughly 200 people and where the LGBTQ community doesn’t exist. She said as long as she can remember that she has felt like a girl and started dressing as a woman at 18 years old.

(Ana Ramirez / The San Diego Union-Tribune)