Trump admin warns states to comply with housing prisoners by their biological sex or face funding cutoff

Trump administration will soon examine states not complying with its mandate to strip all federal prisons of gender reassignment surgeries and treatments, as well as housing based on biological sex.

In addition to Maine, California, New York, Minnesota, New Jersey and Washington state allow transgender people to be housed in jail and prison facilities that align with their gender identity. Most provide transgender treatments on the taxpayer dime or through other sources of state funding, though it may vary from prison to prison. Following a consent decree, Colorado is the only state to have housing facilities specific for transgender people.  Jamie Joseph is a U.S. Politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering transgender and culture issues, the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services, and stateside legislative developments.

The official, who declined to be identified, explained that while much of prison funding is handled at the state level, states still must comply with their own versions of the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), which is often modeled after federal standards. As federal changes to those regulations are expected, current PREA guidelines discourage housing inmates in isolation. That, the spokesperson said, has led some states to feel obligated to house transgender women in female facilities, even if they might prefer to create separate spaces.