A transgender woman, Geronimo is a Henderson resident who has been detained by immigration authorities. Geronimo’s bold activism and standing in support of Latino and LGBTQ communities demands support from a broader community now, the author argues.
By Iliana Santillán
Beacon Media
Since mid-March, every time I see a monarch butterfly, I think about my friend Suzy Geronimo.
Each year, monarch butterflies travel thousands of miles to Michoacán, Mexico, following patterns of migration and survival. Suzy is from Michoacán—a place I’m deeply connected to. Like my mom, she left her hometown decades ago in search of something better. Today, Michoacán remains under a U.S. State Department “Do Not Travel” advisory due to crime and violence. Entire regions are shaped by instability.
Now imagine navigating that reality as a trans woman, and choosing to build a life somewhere new.
It makes sense to me that Suzy chose North Carolina as home.
For more than 30 years, she has built a life here. She has built community here. She has shown up for people across this state again and again.
And today, Suzy, a Mexican trans woman and longtime North Carolina resident, is in prison in Stewart, Georgia after being arrested by immigration authorities in Franklinton last month.
There are many being detained across the country, caught in the confusing web of the U.S. immigration system that can criminalize millions at any moment, a web so harsh at the current moment it has also ensnared U.S. citizens.
I met Suzy more than a decade ago in the halls of the North Carolina General Assembly. I was just starting out as an organizer, learning how to navigate spaces that were not built for us. Spaces where, often, we were not welcome.
Suzy was already there.
She walked those halls with a quiet strength that demanded respect. She did not shrink. She did not ask for permission to belong. She showed up fully and consistently, and that in itself was powerful.
I watched her closely. I learned from her.
When I felt myself getting small in those rooms, I would look at Suzy and remind myself: if she can do it, so can I.
We started organizing at a time when our state was sending a clear message about who belonged and who did not. In 2016, the North Carolina legislature passed HB 2, which was later partially repealed, and said people had to use the bathroom assigned to their sex at birth.
It targeted transgender people, a campaign of hate that many have unabashedly continued to make life hard or impossible for transgender people. I’d ask whether the time and energy put into laws that discriminate against an estimated .9% of North Carolina’s population has made anyone in our state healthier, safer, or better off.
We also fought against bills that targeted immigrant communities. We raised our voices in the streets, demanding to be seen and heard. Suzy advocated inside the legislature, speaking directly to lawmakers, and she showed up in the streets, standing alongside her community. She was never afraid. She was always clear about how everyone deserved human rights; she demanded respect because she showed up again and again.
And she never limited her work to one issue.
Suzy is the founder of Fuerza y Unión Múltiple (FUM), an organization that has supported Latino, LGBTQ, and other marginalized communities across North Carolina for years. She has built community for people who needed someone to stand with them.
She believes in dignity. Not as an abstract idea, but as a daily practice.
Over the years, Suzy and I became friends.
We traveled together to Puerto Rico for a friend’s birthday in 2021. It was one of those trips that has stayed with me. Suzy brought us into her world, into community with other trans women who welcomed us, fed us, danced with us, and made space for us.
I learned so much in those moments. About joy. About resilience. About what it means to create belonging.
That is who Suzy is.
The last time I saw her was at a dinner after a meeting of the Governor’s Advisory Council earlier this year. We ate, we laughed, we took photos.
We committed to keep working together to improve the lives of our communities.
I did not think that would be the last time I would see her before she was taken into detention.
I miss my friend.
Right now, Suzy is being held in Stewart Detention Center, one of the largest immigration detention facilities in the country. It is a remote facility where people are often held far from their communities, navigating long periods of uncertainty with limited access to support.
No one should have to go through that alone.
Suzy has spent decades showing up for others. Now it is our turn to show up for her.
That means supporting her financially as she navigates this moment. It means sending messages, prayers, energy, whatever it is you have to give. It means staying informed and paying attention, because Suzy’s story is not an isolated one.
There are many people right now living with the fear that they could be next.
For now, the path is clear for those of us who want a more humane world and stand with Suzy for human dignity.
We must bring Suzy back home. Because in North Carolina, we say y’all means all.
Iliana Santillán is a Mexican immigrant, educator, advocate, and mom leading the charge for Latino power in North Carolina. She is the co-host of El Faro, Beacon Media’s Latino media arm. See her work for El Faro on Beacon Media’s Instagram and TikTok.