The Trump administration has officially eliminated guidelines that protect transgender people in federal prisons. It is the latest step in implementing one of President Donald Trump’s executive orders targeting trans inmates and detainees in federal custody.

In a brief directive circulated to federal Bureau of Prisons employees on Thursday, a copy of which was reviewed by The Intercept, the acting director of the federal Bureau of Prisons, William Lothrop, rescinded the agency’s Transgender Offender Manual. The guidelines were removed from the BOP website in late January, but the agency has continued to cite them in ongoing lawsuits over Trump’s executive order.

Lothrop’s memo, dated February 25, cancels the Transgender Offender Manual “effective immediately” and orders it removed from the BOP intranet and prison libraries.

BOP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“The Transgender Offender Manual was based on constitutional protections and federal law, so I think it is a very dangerous step backwards,” said Richard Saenz, an attorney at Lambda Legal.

The guidelines had been last

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