Kataleya Nativi Baca

Reni Kataleya Nativi Baca, a transgender woman from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, fled her home country in early 2019 after being beaten up by her transphobic brother, who fractured her collarbone. Though she was only a few weeks from presenting her asylum case in early 2020, the U.S./Mexico border was closed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the incredible challenges she continues to face in Mexico as she waits, Kataleya remains resilient and determined. “[Migrating] has taught me how to be a liberated person, not to be a bird trapped in a cage, to leave everything behind in the past to move forward.” Kataleya's story was published in the 2021 February issue of National Geographic and online with images by photojournalist Danielle Villasana.