JERSEY CITY, New Jersey — Michelle Carranza, 22, did not want to be another trans woman murdered in her native Honduras.

“They don’t accept us there. They kill us, they discriminate us, they rape us,” Carranza said, speaking to NBC News and MSNBC against the backdrop of the Statue of Liberty.   

A year and a half ago, she fled Honduras with Gretta Mazariegos, 29, and Gretta’s younger brother, Isaac, 20, two friends who are also part of the LGBTQ+ community.