A U.S. transgender and “sex worker” activist has been deported from Australia after authorities there found evidence he had been working as a prostitute in violation of his tourist visa.
“Monica” Jones, who is biologically male but presents himself as a woman, was detained at Sydney Airport last month under suspicion he had violated the terms of his visa by selling sexual favors during his last trip to the country. According to court documents, customs officials had inspected Jones’ phone as he was exiting the country and found multiple text messages implying Jones had been working as a prostitute during his stay. Jones is also on a watch list of potential threats to Australia, most likely stemming from two U.S. convictions of prostitution and solicitation – the latter of which Jones is still fighting in court.
Upon Jones’ return to Australia, an immigration officer asked him point blank if he had worked in exchange for money during his most recent visit, but Jones flatly denied it. Then the immigration officer produced a copy of an online advertisement featuring Jones in suggestive poses that read: “Dark American TS beauty!!! YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED,” and listed a range of sex acts with prices up to $450.
“That's you. I see you in that photograph,” the officer said, according to an interview transcript filed in Australian court.
Jones acknowledged that it was him, and the officer pointed out that it was an ad for prostitution.
“Is that not legal here?” Jones asked in reply.
Prostitution is legal in most of Australia, but that wasn’t the issue. The issue was that Jones’ tourist visa permitted him only “limited business activity,” and forbade him from selling goods or services inside Australia. The officer told Jones the violation was serious enough to warrant revoking his visa, and gave him ten minutes to explain himself.
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Jones confessed that he had worked as a prostitute, but claimed he hadn’t realized it would be a violation of his visa.
“Of course I did it. I did,” Jones said. “But you have to ask yourself – I didn't know that it would be an issue. … I can't say how sorry I am. I got caught, yes, and did I lie? Yes. … I [expletive] up and I didn't mean to [expletive] up and I'm sorry and I know I lied.”
Ultimately, Australia opted to cancel Jones’ visa and sent him back to the United States. Now, Jones is appealing, saying he was treated unfairly by immigration officials and pressured to allow a news crew to film his interactions with border security.
Jones has never been one to give up without a fight. When he was convicted of solicitation earlier this year in Phoenix, Arizona, he appealed the ruling to the Arizona Supreme Court, claiming he was convicted for “walking while trans[sexual].” However, Jones was actually arrested after accepting a ride to a bar from an undercover police officer who said he “exposed his breast” during the trip and asked him if he was a cop.
Jones has become a hero to the transgender community for fighting the conviction, for which he was sentenced to 30 days in a men’s prison. He has even drawn support from celebrities like Laverne Cox, a transsexual actor appearing on the popular Netflix show “Orange is the New Black.” Cox spoke out against Jones’ conviction while accepting a GLAAD award in April, and appeared alongside Jones at an August ACLU event and a press conference announcing Jones’ appeal in the Phoenix case. Cox has called Jones “a huge inspiration to me and transpeople all over this country.”