NYU Gallatin Global Fellowship in Human Rights Blog

human rights

Blog Post 3

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Santana Kavanaugh (NYU Gallatin) |National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers| NYC, United States

Hello Everyone,

As a quick update, I have continued to work on multiple projects with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, including the “50 Years of a Mass Incarceration” public education campaign, the planning of several expungement clinics around the country, and updating the NACDL website with information on racial disparities within the criminal justice system. Also, the NACDL publishes the magazine, “Champion.” Next month I’ll have my own column where I discuss my project and why I believe criminal defense lawyers should take race into account more often in their field (WOOT WOOT)!

I decided to display my summer findings in the form of a report on systemic racism in the criminal justice system. I was inspired to do so after reading a recent report by the Vera Institute of Justice on Oklahoma’s jail conditions and policies. I have also written a draft resolution in connection to the “1951 We Charge Genocide Petition.” I wrote the proposal in the form of a United Nations General Assembly resolution, and it includes over fifteen restorative justice initiatives that I believe The United States should take to recognize and compensate for the harm done to African-Americans and indigenous peoples. Much of the issues I address in the resolution stem from the ten-point reparations plan created by the National African American Reparations Commission. 

On a separate note, today, I had lunch with two of my (only) black colleagues, most of our conversation was about race; how racism has been normalized in the political atmosphere, how white supremacists have become more audacious, how it shouldn’t be our responsibility as Black Women to educate the ignorant, and how nothing will be done unless we do just that. It was a long conversation — it was productive but frightening. Considering the harmful comments from Florida’s governor and the recent Supreme Court decisions, I, much like many other people of color in this country am instilled with fear. I worry about my future, I worry about my sibling’s future, and most of all I worry that we, as a nation are moving backward. I have found this project to be both distressing and cathartic. As I research the injustices of my very own people, I am confronted yet again with the evil realities of this country. But as I monitor the work of California and DC, and prepare my own proposal for restorative justice, I am in many ways instilled with hope.

 

Thank you for reading!

 

Public Charge = Border Wall?

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Ayman Mukerji Househam
Sakhi
USA

Mrs. X is an Indian (actual nationality masked) wife whose husband invited her to finally live with him in Harlem, NY, after 16 years of marriage. He had visited her three times, so they barely knew each other. As Mrs. X and her three teenage sons landed at JFK airport, she noticed her heart pounding with joy and excitement. Little did she know that the next three months would be filled with rape and drunken rages followed by brutal abuse of their sons and her. In the fall of 2018, her husband finally called it off by (literally!) kicking them out into the frozen streets of Harlem.

This would have become the story of four homeless immigrants, but a Good Samaritan New Yorker spotted the hungry children and their pregnant mother. He helped them find a shelter, which is Mrs. X’s new home, and fortunately, the family got food, thanks to food stamps! When I met the family this year as a social worker, I did not have the heart to tell them that they might soon be cut off from food and shelter. They would be possibly left with one of two choices: to return to their perpetrator or to be deported to their country.

Why, you might ask, would that happen? Well, President Trump has introduced a new set of rules for “public charge.” The Trump administration’s new definition (August 14, 2019) under which immigrants become a “public charge” or a burden to the American society, targets immigrant families that already struggle to make the ends meet. This includes numerous green card applicants and asylum-seekers who are deemed too poor or too young, old, or sick to work. It includes numerous families who are fleeing domestic abuse.

The new public charge assessment will go into effect after October 15, 2019, after which immigrants will face several new risks:

Using public benefits could put immigrants at risk. Immigrants applying for permanent residency and several other adjustments of immigration status will be subjected to the “Public Charge Test” if they avail of the following public benefits after October 15: food stamps, the cash assistance program for income maintenance, public housing, rental assistance, non-emergency Medicaid, and so on. So, if you are an immigrant using or planning to use public benefits, you will be okay at least until October 15.

Immigrants who are simply not capable of working will be targeted. Already-vulnerable populations will be targeted by public charge status as of October 15, 2019. This includes children, seniors, those suffering from debilitating health conditions, and the poor. Interestingly, the US government now has conflicting definitions of poverty, depending on immigration status. An immigrant has to earn at least 125% of the federal poverty level to not be considered a public charge. Simply put, if you are an immigrant with doubtful earning potential and are poorer than a middle-class American, you don’t stand a chance to become one. The new public charge rules challenge the basis of Article 2 (freedom against discrimination) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

This will affect domestic violence victims as well. Many survivors and their children may not qualify for a U visa or permanent resident status. The victims are often poor and still learning basic skills that can help them become financially independent. With the new public charge rules, many survivors will be left with no public assistance and therefore risk becoming homeless and hungry. Such families will face two challenges: fearful of applying for benefits, they may stay with their abuser, or US immigration services may target them for deportation.

You can help. Learn the facts, speak with immigrants, and educate communities and advocates. Ask Congress members to cosponsor HR 3222 (“No Federal Funds for Public Charge”) and to speak out and organize their network against public charge.

protest sign of woman in US-flag hijab with text, "We the people are greater than fear"
Photo Credit: Flickr, Shepard Fairey

Empowering Children Through a Rights-Based Approach in Egypt

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Sabrina Illiano
Egyptian Foundation for the Advancement of the Childhood Condition (EFACC)
Cairo, Egypt

Hello! My name is Sabrina Illiano, and I’m a first-year student in Gallatin concentrating in human rights and its application in politics and law, with a regional focus on the Middle East. I’m also minoring in Arabic.

This summer, I will be living and working in Cairo, Egypt, while I intern with the Egyptian Foundation for the Advancement of the Childhood Condition (EFACC). This organization is dedicated to promoting children’s rights in the Middle East/North Africa region through a combination of legal and media advocacy, lobbying, and reporting. EFACC is concerned with holding Egyptian communities and the Egyptian government accountable for their commitments regarding children’s rights. I will be evaluating children’s justice in Egypt and will write a proposal for improving children’s situations on the state level and for creating new mechanisms to monitor and document violations of children’s rights.

The large presence of youth in recent Egyptian protests is reflective of the proportion of the population they comprise. Thus it is crucial that children’s rights in the country be taken seriously. Issues of primary concern for children in Egypt include access to appropriate judicial procedures, gender-based violence, child marriage, and alternative family care. The work that EFACC does is of particular importance because they don’t simply take a protectionist approach to these issues; they use human rights instruments such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child to empower children—when possible—to become active participants in demanding their rights, and to do so not as the property of their parents or the state but as autonomous individuals. In other words, EFACC works to create the legal framework necessary to help children make decisions that concern themselves and their well-being. And when it is not possible for children to do so, EFACC steps in as a third party representative to ensure that their voices are heard.

Throughout my time in Egypt, I hope to learn how children’s rights are engaged within the particular cultural context of Egypt. I would also like to gain a better understanding of how these rights can be ensured through distinctly Eurocentric human rights instruments, without contributing to cultural erasure. Furthermore, I look forward to learning about how EFACC works to maintain a unique and delicate balance between protectionism and empowerment for children.