Widespread Human Rights Abuse of Migrants by US

How a country treats vulnerable groups is an important indicator of its level of human rights protection. The United States, which often claims to be a champion of democracy and human rights, is accustomed to putting on a show about refugees and migrants and making false promises. Yet, in reality, it treats refugees and migrants with brutality, with serious violations of their rights. It demonstrates fake democracy and bogus human rights.

In recent years, U.S. policies on immigration have become ever more harsh, leaving this group of people in an increasingly precarious position. The Trump administration invoked provisions of the Public Health Service Act to bar asylum seekers from entering the U.S. on the pretext of protecting public health. Between February 2021 and February 2022, the Biden administration deported more than 1.2 million asylum seekers on public health grounds, including many people with disabilities or in poor health.

In addition, the U.S. has introduced an accelerated summary procedure to deport unaccompanied children who are already in the United States, rather than placing them in the care of their families. Nor are they given the option to apply for asylum or appeal the outcome of their claim. This policy has resulted in the forced separation of more than 2,800 migrant children from their parents, many of whom are still searching for their children.

As well as the mass deportation of refugees and migrants, the U.S. also uses brute force against large numbers. Data show that in 2021, U.S. law enforcement arrested around 1.7 million migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, including 145,000 children. The U.S. government has adopted extreme and dehumanizing measures in its cruel treatment of migrants. Migrants are often subjected to violent law enforcement and face prolonged detention and mistreatment. The U.K.’s Guardian website has reported that, between 2016 and 2021, more than 160 cases of asylum seeker abuse by U.S. southern border law enforcement officers have been uncovered, involving major law enforcement agencies, such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Border Patrol. The U.N. Human Rights Council has issued a statement condemning the systematic and widespread deportation of refugees and migrants without the assessment of individual cases. It violates international law and perpetuates a history of racial exclusion of immigrants at U.S. border crossings.

It must be said that the root cause of America’s serious immigration and refugee problems lies squarely with its own hegemonic bullying practices. Throughout history, the United States has intervened militarily in Latin American nations more than 30 times. It has plundered them economically and subverted political regimes, leading to constant social unrest. Large numbers of people, unable to cope with the hardships, have tried to escape north, only to be turned away or brutally treated by the U.S.

Facts which speak louder than words have shattered myths about human rights and democracy in the U.S. and exposed the illusions that the nation has constructed. When it comes to human rights and democracy, the United States does not deserve to be a “teacher” or a “judge,” but should instead sit in the dock of history. In the face of the desperate plight of refugees and migrants, the U.S. government should seriously review and rectify its many misdeeds and take effective measures to protect the basic human rights of refugees and migrants.