The Trump administration is launching an investigation into trans women in women’s prisons in California and Maine — as a law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom has led to horrific allegations of rape and harassment in the Golden State, the California Post has learned.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is set to fire off letters to Newsom and fellow Dem leader, Gov. Janet Mills, about the impending probe, Harmeet Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Justice Department, confirmed Thursday.
The focus of the investigation will be on the California Institution for Women in San Bernardino County, the Central California Women’s Facility in Madera County, and the Maine Correctional Center in Windham — which have all been at the center of shocking trans rape allegations.
Officials say the probe will examine whether the two states have violated the constitutional rights of female inmates by placing them alongside male prisoners.
Harmeet Dhillon announced an investigation into trans inmates. Getty Images
Newsom — who has waxed lyrical about helping California be a “sanctuary” for women — signed a bill in 2020 allowing incarcerated transgender, non-binary and intersex people to be housed according to their gender identity.
A billboard campaign launched across the Golden State by two women’s rights groups earlier this year took aim at the legislation, Senate Bill 132, and demanded that the concerning rise in trans prisoners raping women be addressed.
The campaign, organized by Women Are Real and WomaniiWoman, advocates for better scrutiny of biological male inmates housed in women’s prisons under the bill – and draws attention to the upcoming rape trial of trans prisoner Tremaine Carroll.
Carroll, 52, was transferred to the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla in 2021 after serving more than 22 years in the men’s prison — because he claimed to be a woman, The Hill reported.
Since being housed with women because of SB 132, which went into effect in 2021, he has been charged with raping three women.
Prosecutors say one female cellmate became pregnant.
There were 2,405 inmates in the California state prison system who identified as transgender, non-binary, and intersex as of February 2026, according to records. It was unclear how many trans women were being housed in women’s facilities.
Tremaine Carroll was accused of raping women at a women’s prison after identifying as a female. CDC
Federal investigators probing California will look into allegations that female prisoners have been subjected to sexual assault, rape, voyeurism and intimidation linked to the presence of male inmates.
They will also assess potential violations of First Amendment protections, the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment, and the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
“These investigations will uncover whether the dangerous national trend of housing men in women’s prisons has resulted in violations of women’s constitutional rights,” Dhillon said.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation claims that housing requests from inmates who identify as trans are reviewed by a classification committee rather than granted automatically.
Critics of the law say it enables male prisoners to exploit the system in order to be housed with women.
“Keeping men out of women’s prisons is not only common sense – it’s a matter of safety and constitutional rights,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said.
“The Trump Administration will not stand by if governors are facilitating the abuse of biological women under the guise of inclusion.”
Andrea Taney Balcer is accused of terrorizing fellow inmates in Maine. Maine DOC
First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli of the Central District of California also blasted the Newson law.
“California’s Transgender Respect, Agency, and Dignity Act has provided none of these qualities to the female inmates of state prisons who have been forced to share space with biological men who are violent felons,” Essayli said in a statement.
The DOJ said it is also gathering info on trans prison inmates elsewhere in America.
The Trump administration has already pulled all ”non-essential” funding to Maine’s prison system after allowing convicted double murderer and trans woman Andrea Balcer to live in a women’s prison.
Balcer was convicted of stabbing his mom and stepfather to death in 2018. He went by Andrew at the time of the crime in October 2016.
He is now being housed at Maine Correctional Center in Windham because the state also allows inmates to live amongst the population they identify with after being assessed by a doctors.
The decision was made under Maine’s Human Rights Act, which outlaws any discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.
Andrea Balcer before being sentenced to 40 years for killing her parents on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018(AP) AP
Balcer has since been accused of a number of sexual attacks on women since moving from the male prison to the female one in 2021.
The 27 year old, who stands at 6 feet tall and weighs 300 pounds, has been accused of forcibly kissing other women, propositioning them and offering to impregnant them, the Sun-Journal has reported.
Women who had faced Balcer’s attacks say their complaints are ignored by authorities.
The US Attorney for the District of Maine, Andrew B. Benson, insisted his office would help the Justice Department.
“Incarcerated individuals can be particularly susceptible to having their rights violated,” Benson said in a statement.
“The US Attorney’s Office is committed to protecting the civil rights of all Maine citizens, no matter where they live, and will work with our colleagues in the Civil Rights Division to ensure that this vulnerable population is protected from harm while housed in state custody.”
Recent prison mugshot of Andrea Balcer Maine DOC
Meanwhile, a Madera County judge ruled in December 2024 Carroll must be referred to using she/her pronouns because Carroll identifies as a woman.
Madera County District Attorney Sally Moreno slammed the decision at the time, saying the defendant is abusing California’s prison housing law and said the pronoun ruling risks confusing jurors and complicating the prosecution.
“This is a particular issue in this case because it’s confusing to the jury. In California, rape is a crime that has to be accomplished by a man,” Moreno told ABC7.
“There’s no psychological evaluation required. This person does not need to be on cross-gender hormones. They don’t need to be signed up for transgender surgery. They don’t need a psychological evaluation regarding gender confusion. The mere statement is enough.”
There were 2,198 trans inmates within the federal prison system as of February 2025, NPR reported, citing Bureau of Prisons documents.
Of those inmates, 22 trans women were being housed in women’s facilities, the outlet reported. One trans man was living in a men’s facility.