United Nations Slams US Treatment Of Illegal Aliens – OpEd

The United Nations is imploring countries such as the United States and France to stop the “ill-treatment” of illegal immigrants, according to a statement released this week. The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a statement denouncing “a disturbing pattern of legislative activity hostile to ethnic minorities and immigrants [in the United States].”

Sadly, the U.N. statement doesn’t mention illegal aliens crossing Mexico’s southern border who are beaten, tortured, robbed and killed by Mexican police and soldiers, according to a May 4, 2011 Examiner report.

Aimed largely at Arizona’s new immigration control law and the recent French expulsions of Roma migrants, the U.N. admonition calls upon states to ensure that their laws conform with “international human rights standards and guarantees at all stages of the migration process,” according to Judicial Watch, a public-interest group that investigates political corruption.

U.N. officials stated that local governments must protect illegal immigrants’ “fundamental rights,” including the right to be free from “arbitrary arrest or detention” as well as the right to “seek and enjoy asylum from persecution.”

“Illegal aliens must also have economic, social and cultural rights, which include health, adequate housing, education and favorable conditions of work,” according to U.N. officials.

States such as Arizona that pass measures to curb illegal immigration are “driven by hostile domestic constituencies,” the U.N. asserts. Too often these states address “irregular migration solely through the lens of sovereignty, border security or law enforcement…” Deep stuff from the scandal-plagued group that’s largely sustained with American tax dollars, said Judicial Watch founder Tom Fitton.

Buried in the U.N.’s two-page statement is an acknowledgement that states have legitimate interests in securing their borders and exercising immigration control. However, those concerns cannot trump the obligations to respect international law which guarantees all persons — even “migrants in an irregular situation — the necessary rights to enjoy a “life of dignity and security.”

The warning provokes outrage as well as laughter considering the U.N.’s own Human Rights Council is best known for the oppressive regimes that comprise it. Among them are the world’s worst human rights violators, including Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, China and Russia. These countries don’t even offer their own citizens rights or protections, much less to transitional migrants, according to Judicial Watch.

Meanwhile, Judicial Watch seeks documents pertaining to the Obama administration’s contacts with third party organizations, such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), in making the decision to file its lawsuit against Arizona.