The Abuse in America’s Immigration System Upends the International Human Rights Mandate We Helped Create

For the last decade, pundits on both sides of the aisle have painted the United States as a once “great” nation that has lost its way. As we commemorate the 75th declaration of International Human Rights Day, which was established in December of 1950, it’s worth coming back to the question that’s been haunting our political landscape: what made America great?  

On April 25, 1945 – four months before the recognized end of World War II – the first iteration of the United Nations convened. Soon after, they established the United Nations Economic and Social Council, which created the Human Rights Commission. A year later, the Commission’s first session was called to order – and former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt was chosen as chair. 

It’s important to note that the Commission’s delegates were not chosen based on national affiliation but on personal merit. While President Harry Truman had appointed Eleanor as a representative to the U.N. itself, U.N. Secretary-General Trygve Lie, from Norway, asked Eleanor to join the Commission, and Dr. C. L. Hsia, from China, nominated Eleanor as chair, with rapid endorsement from the rest of the commission. 

That is to say, the international community did not choose Eleanor Roosevelt to guide them in respecting “the essential condition of the dignity of the person” because she was American, but because she represented, in their eyes, the best of humanity. And in that way, she represented the best of America. In her words, “Many of us thought that lack of standards for human rights the world over was one of the greatest causes of friction among the nations, and that recognition of human rights might become one of the cornerstones on which peace could eventually be based.” 

In 1948, the Commission published the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as “a common standard of achievement for all peoples and nations” with the first cornerstone (PDF) including, but not limited to 

• freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment  

• the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law 

• the right to an effective judicial remedy 

• freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention or exile 

• the right to a fair trial and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal 

• the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty 

• freedom from arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home or correspondence 

• freedom of movement and residence  

• the right of asylum 

Readers may easily hear echoes our own American Bill of Rights within these words; indeed, the United States is one of the first countries to introduce the modern concept that people have inherent rights that should be recognized legally. 

And yet, 77 years later, on April 8 of this year, 23 nonprofit organizations urged the United Nations to address “the rapidly deteriorating human rights situation of non-citizens in the United States.” They cited the following: 

• The U.S. government’s collaboration with private prison companies that are notorious for abuse 

• The detention and mistreatment of migrant children 

• The indefinite suspension of the U.S. refugee system and blocking access to lawful asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border 

• President Trump’s recent invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to unilaterally detain and disappear immigrants 

• ICE’s deceptive and invasive methods of arrest 

• The escalating retaliation against non-citizens who engage in political speech 

The abuses have continued, including basing a person’s worth on the value of their wallet and limiting health care for lawfully present immigrants. 

Nearly 100 years ago, an American woman, a former first lady, led the international community in defining and fighting for human rights. Today, political pundits have said that they want to “make America great again.” How’s that going for them? More importantly, how’s it going for us?