Judge orders federal Bureau of Prisons to transfer two transgender inmates back to a women's prison

A federal judge has ordered the federal Bureau of Prisons to return two transgender inmates to a women’s prisons after they were sent to male prison facilities. 

The ruling Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, in Washington, D.C., a preliminary injunction, follows a series of executive orders signed by President Donald Trump’s that have revised or reversed federal law related to transgenders and that the White House says "restores biological truth to the federal government."

Lamberth ordered the federal Bureau of Prisons to “immediately transfer” the two women – identified in court papers by the pseudonyms Rachel and Ellen Doe – back to women’s facilities and said the agency must continue to provide them with hormone therapy treatment for gender dysphoria, according to The Associated Press.

The Bureau of Prisons as of Thursday had not commented on the ruling. The bureau's website says it can take 20 to 30 days to respond.

The transgender inmates said that they were living in fear of violence and sexual assault when they were transferred to the male prisons, the wire service also reports.

Lamberth issued the injunction after the inmates were added as plaintiffs in litigation against Trump's executive order.