US’ human rights exit reveals hypocrisy

Another day, another abdication.

You could set a watch to US President Donald Trump leaving international organizations or agreements. First it was the Paris climate agreement. Then, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. A few months later, the US illegally backed out of the Iran nuclear deal. And last week, UN Ambassador Nikki Haley announced her country’s unilateral withdrawal from the intergovernmental body’s Human Rights Council. Tick-tock.

Officially, this and the UNESCO move came as a result of what the Trump administration deemed “anti-Israel bias.” I’m of the opinion any thinking, feeling human being should carry an anti-Israel bias at this point — last month’s massacre in Gaza being the tip of the iceberg when it comes to atrocity — but there’s another story at play in this latest withdrawal, one which the US would like very much to hide.

A “zero-tolerance” stance toward immigrants caught crossing the US-Mexico border has led to hundreds of thousands being hit with criminal charges, even when accompanied by their families. As interpreted by Trump’s Justice Department, this means mass detention and forcible separation by the Department of Homeland Security and its paramilitary wing, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Children have been ripped from their mothers’ arms, with many sent far away to await processing through a hopelessly clogged system. There’s no better term for the holding facilities they’re taken to than “concentration camps”. Most sleep on the floor, behind chain-link fences.

This has happened no matter their parents’ situation, in some cases even after going through all proper procedures to claim political asylum — a status many only need due to the aftershocks of US meddling in their home countries. Trump and his supporters took great pains to distinguish between “legal” and “illegal” immigration during the presidential campaign, but now that he is in office such nuance has been conveniently forgotten.

In recent weeks, media reports have shed light on this policy, prompting worldwide outrage. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, separate from the aforementioned council, issued a statement condemning the practice earlier this month, and the commissioner himself went before the UNHRC on June 18 to register his disapproval.

One day later — pure coincidence, no doubt — Haley announced the US would be leaving the council, citing unfair treatment of Israel. Despite these protestations, it isn’t hard to read the tea leaves. Rather than take responsibility for its actions, the US has instead chosen to abandon the principles it purports to uphold in a cynical ploy to save face. Protecting Israel, its stalwart supporter on the international stage, is just a bonus.

Though this cruel, unconscionable shift in tactics from DHS and ICE began during the Trump administration, detaining “unaccompanied minors” is not a new practice. Criminal prosecution of unauthorized migrants began during the George W. Bush administration, and the detention centers for children were built during Barack Obama’s term. Neither president gave an explicit order to separate families, but nevertheless left a barbaric blueprint Trump was all too happy to build on.

As a response to the outcry, Trump issued an executive order mandating an end to family separation, but has done nothing to quell prosecutions or end detentions. The result is families being put in jail together — an unsatisfactory answer for anyone with a beating heart. If no substantive effort is made to reverse course the political consequences could be dire, to say nothing of those trapped in a vicious carceral apparatus.

The repercussions might have already begun. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a young socialist activist who made the abolition of ICE a key plank of her platform, just defeated a Democratic member of Congress with ambitions for top leadership in a much-discussed primary election. New York Representative Joe Crowley criticized the separation of families, but would not go so far as to call for the end of the agency altogether. Perceived support for ICE and its brutal measures will, no doubt, continue to haunt politicians in both parties — and Trump’s ersatz “solution” has done little to quell domestic fury.

What this has instead done is laid bare the US’ own hypocrisy. It lectures countries it views as enemies for supposed human rights abuses, yet excuses allies without question and turns a blind eye to its own offenses. It professes a universally applicable moral code, but when international bodies don’t accept its diktat or dare to criticize it, those bodies are declared corrupt. Rather than treat other countries as equals, it walks away from discussion entirely. These are not the actions of a world leader. They are the actions of a spoiled child who makes a mess when he doesn’t get his way.

US citizens are well aware of the reputation this irrationality creates for their country. Many will take part in November’s midterm elections with Trump’s disregard toward the rest of the world in mind —many more will remember the tear-streaked faces of children torn from their loved ones, left to rot in a cage far from home. I have a pretty good idea how they’ll vote.

The author is a copy editor with chinadaily.com.cn.

(The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and do not represent the views of China Daily and China Daily website.)