How a country treats vulnerable groups reflects the country's true level of human rights protection.

Migrants are often more vulnerable due to their alien status and lack of social help networks.

Refugees among migrants, especially women and children, are the most vulnerable group because of the dangerous situation in their home countries.

The United States often presents itself as a defender of democracy and human rights, talks about the "American Dream", and publishes the "Country Human Rights Report" every year. It points out the human rights situation of other countries from the moral high ground, but turns a blind eye to its own human rights problems. , and the serious violation of the rights of immigrants and refugees is the epitome of the poor human rights situation in the United States.

Refugee protection is rhetorical but not real

　　The plight of Ukrainian refugees is the latest example.

After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the United States continued to send weapons to Ukraine, fueling the conflict, and at the same time "drawing a big cake" for Ukraine, swearing and promising to accept 100,000 Ukrainian refugees.

But after thousands of Ukrainian refugees crossed the U.S.-Mexico border to enter the United States, the United States accepted only 12 refugee applications in March.

So far, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has displaced more than 4 million Ukrainians. The U.S. public commitment is a drop in the bucket compared to the actual number of Ukrainian refugees, but even such a commitment cannot be fulfilled.

　　The Biden administration ignores the provisions of international refugee law and international human rights law, and refuses to provide Ukrainian refugees with human rights guarantees that meet the requirements of international law. Instead, it proposes a so-called "humanitarian parole" program, which sets a series of additional conditions for Ukrainian refugees.

For example, you must live in Ukraine before February 11, 2022, have a guarantor (including family members or institutions), be vaccinated and meet other public health conditions, pass rigorous biometrics and resume checks, and security checks.

For most Ukrainian refugees on the U.S.-Mexico border, these conditions are impossible to meet, and as a result, they are deported before they even begin to apply, and their “American dream” of seeking security and prosperity is shattered.

Even Ukrainian refugees who can pass these layers of vetting are limited to two years of residence in the United States.

　　These U.S. practices are inconsistent, disregarding the safety of refugees, and are completely inconsistent with the "non-refoulement" principle of international refugee law, that is, asylum applicants cannot be repatriated, but must be resettled locally or transferred to a safe third party .

At a regular press conference, the spokesperson of the US State Department expressed the hope that Ukrainian refugees would stay in their neighboring countries, which directly exposed the hypocrisy of the United States' unwillingness to accept Ukrainian refugees and its duplicity.

　　The experience of Ukrainian refugees in the United States is in the same line as the attitude of the United States to the issue of immigrants and refugees.

It is a consistent practice in the United States to show off the refugee protection issue and make false promises, but in fact violate the rights of refugees and treat refugees, especially women and children, badly.

In 2020, an international non-governmental organization released the "Human Rights Report in the United States" and pointed out that more than 55,000 asylum seekers were deported to Mexico by the United States and could not obtain legal representation and the right to a fair hearing.

The Trump administration has invoked the provisions of Chapter 42 of the Public Health Service Act, which prohibit boat entry during meningitis outbreaks, to bar asylum seekers from entering the United States and deprive them of the right to seek refugee protection under the pretext of protecting public health. put refugees at risk.

The Biden administration has followed this policy more thoroughly, deporting a total of 1,255,014 asylum seekers on public health grounds between February 2021 and February 2022.

Among these refugees, there are many persons with disabilities and those with worrisome health conditions. Among them, immigrant children are the most disadvantaged and the most concerned by the international community.

　　The US policy of blanket deportation of asylum seekers at the border lacks due process and greatly harms children's rights.

The U.S. has adopted an expedited summary process to deport unaccompanied children already in the U.S. rather than into the care of their families and without giving them the opportunity to apply for asylum or appeal the outcome of their refugee claims.

The Biden administration is even more laissez-faire for border agents to deport unaccompanied Mexican children.

Even more shocking is the fact that immigrant children are separated from their parents, imprisoned in appalling conditions and unable to contact their parents.

Some children die shortly after entering the United States, a humanitarian catastrophe.

These children have been subjected to overtime incarceration in the United States, and their human rights have continued to be violated while incarcerated.

According to media reports, the United States detains children in very crowded places, where diseases are rampant, abuse is frequent, food safety is not guaranteed, clothing and other necessities are lacking, and some children are even pulled up in their sleep and sent on planes leaving the United States .

Many of these children have sought asylum in the United States to escape death threats, rape, torture, or other serious harm in their home countries, while the most vulnerable people who deserve the most protection are ruthlessly driven, imprisoned, and humiliated by the United States.

The New York Times noted that the children were deported without notifying their families or lawyers, making the United States the worst country for violating children's rights.

In fact, as early as 2017, the United States gradually began to design and implement an immigration policy that forced the separation of children and families, in order to achieve the purpose of preventing immigrants and refugees from coming to the United States.

The Biden administration has continued this policy, promoting separation of family members through detention and deportation measures, and rejecting compensation claims from families hurt by this policy.

The United States' treatment of asylum-seeking children is undoubtedly a serious violation of international refugee law and international human rights law, and it lacks the minimum humanitarian spirit.

Immigrants suffer from racism

　　The human rights situation of immigrants other than refugees in the United States is also not optimistic.

Racial discrimination in the United States has a long history, and the regression of the human rights situation of immigrants in recent years is inseparable from the deterioration of the domestic political environment in the United States.

In recent years, the U.S. economy has continued to decline, the number of unemployed has increased, and immigrants and foreigners have become scapegoats, resulting in the intensification of the existing structural and systemic racial discrimination and xenophobia.

The party politics in the United States has made it difficult for the Democratic Party and the Republican Party to reach compromises on various important political and social issues in order to cater to their respective voters, further exacerbating social divisions.

Some politicians, including Trump, use divisive language in public speech and marginalize racial, ethnic, and religious minorities, etc., which objectively has the effect of inciting xenophobia and promoting racial discrimination and violence.

In recent years, the public discourse on immigrants and refugees in the United States has promoted white supremacy, incited racial hatred, and equated immigrants and refugees with crimes and infectious diseases, which is worrying.

The failed prevention and control of the new crown pneumonia epidemic in the United States has exacerbated the difficult situation of foreign immigrants in the United States.

　　The problem of racial discrimination in the United States is only the tip of the iceberg of human rights issues in the United States. The reason behind its poor human rights situation is that the political system, economic system and individualistic liberal culture in the United States controlled by financial capital have been impacted by the economic downturn, exposing its inherent flaws .

　　Immigrants living in the United States often encounter various human rights violations, including racial discrimination.

According to the 2020 Report on the Economic Well-Being of American Households, white Americans outnumber African Americans in every aspect of economic and social life, including education, employment, and income.

The excessive violence and brutal law enforcement by the American police against black people is even more astounding.

In 2020, the African-American man George Floyd was suffocated to death by violent law enforcement by white police, which shocked the world.

The case also uncovered the dark background of the long-term police brutality and unfair law enforcement suffered by black people in the United States, and thus triggered the "Black Lives Matter" global anti-racial discrimination demonstrations.

According to statistics, in 2021 alone, 1,055 people will be killed by police brutality in the United States, and the proportion of black victims is very high.

Black women in the United States are twice as likely to be incarcerated as white women, and black men are six times more likely to be incarcerated than white men.

People incarcerated in the United States also face systematic human rights violations such as enforced disappearances, torture and other types of inhumane treatment.

However, the public officials who committed the violations were rarely investigated and severely punished, resulting in unscrupulous law enforcement officers.

Due to systematic and long-term discrimination, black Americans are more likely to encounter police violence, unfair law enforcement and judicial injustice, and cannot enjoy political, economic, social and cultural rights equally.

U.S. scholars have criticized the U.S. federal and state governments for imprisoning large numbers of minorities, especially African-Americans, at all costs, but unwilling to allocate resources to programs or services that help women victims of violence.

Some scholars have criticized the U.S. criminal justice system for leaving countless black men and women incarcerated and their families devastated.

　　Minorities such as Asians and Muslims are also often discriminated against and violated in the United States.

Since the outbreak, hate crimes against Asian Americans have increased dramatically.

Between March 19, 2020, and September 30, 2021, Stop the Hate of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders received 10,370 reports of attacks against Asian Americans.

American Muslims are also increasingly subject to discrimination and persecution.

According to media reports, discrimination cases against Muslims in the United States will rise by 9% in 2021, while the Council on American-Islamic Relations received a total of 6,720 complaints in 2021, including immigration discrimination, travel discrimination, employment discrimination, law enforcement discrimination, hate and prejudice Various cases of discrimination against Muslim groups.

Women of color are at greater risk of police violence, even when they seek help from the police after experiencing domestic violence.

In the epidemic, ethnic minorities and immigrant women are the most affected, and their disproportionate exposure to unemployment, salary reduction, infection with the new crown, violence, and being shot to death are the latest symptoms of the deteriorating human rights situation in the United States. For the vast majority of migrants and refugees, "dream" is just an illusion.

　　The deep-rooted racial discrimination in the United States has penetrated into all aspects of legislation, law enforcement, justice, employment and education, which also determines that the human rights situation of refugees and immigrants in the United States cannot be fundamentally improved, and this is only the tip of the iceberg of human rights issues in the United States .

However, the United States not only ignores its own problems, is committed to reducing racial discrimination, and guarantees the basic human rights of refugees and immigrants, especially the most vulnerable groups such as women and children, but it is busy blaming other countries for the human rights situation and politicizing human rights issues. The so-called "Country Human Rights Reports" have been published, while at the same time evading international responsibilities and even blatantly violating international law, adopting double standards on human rights issues.

　　Human rights are the common cause of all mankind, and people all over the world are a community with a shared future.

In today's era, we oppose politicization, selectivity and double standards on human rights issues, and oppose the abuse of military, economic or other means to interfere in the affairs of other countries. These practices run counter to the purpose and spirit of human rights.

Facts that speak louder than words have shattered the human rights myths about the United States and other Western countries and their hypocritical human rights discourse; all countries should work hard to advance global human rights governance and build a community with a shared future for mankind on the basis of equality.

(Author: Lu Haina, Executive Director of the Human Rights Research Center of Renmin University of China)