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The Mesa Press

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The independent student news site of San Diego Mesa College.

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The Mesa Press

The Mesa Press

Human rights for immigrants in the urban United States: introduction and bringing out the conscience

Note from the editor: The following series of articles is written by Hilina Gudeta, a second-year Mesa College student, in her efforts to promote human rights, cultural awareness and diversity as a U.S. immigrant. Although she is not an official staff member of this publication, we have agreed to publish her stories in a periodic fashion as a six-part opinion feature. Therefore, as a disclaimer, the ideas expressed in this column may not necessarily represent the views of The Mesa Press and its staff as a whole. Moreover, to best preserve Ms. Gudeta’s voice, only minor errors in syntax and punctuation will be addressed before publication. Any major stylistic differences will be ignored and attributed as such.

Definition of Human Rights: inalienable rights humans get because they are humans.

Why the Urban U.S.: Most immigrants come into cities in the United States where they can find educational and employment opportunities.

Introduction:

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Do immigrants exercise the same rights as native born Americans? Not really. Certainly, the rights are legally laid out, but they are not readily implemented for immigrants.

To match the human rights issues documented in these articles to a standard, an internationally accepted guide is brought to use: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) passed by the United Nations (UN). With this declaration in hand, both the emphatic and the understated complaints of immigrants can be measured against the provisions in the UDHR. Clearly, the preamble of the UDHR proclaims respect for human rights and seeks progressive measures for “effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of the Member States themselves and among peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.” Member States (countries that have accepted the UDHR) have little control over the promotion of human rights for their citizens who have emigrated. If the Member States should recognize and observe human rights just “among” the peoples of the country, then UDHR ought to be more inclusive. It is not so clear whether immigrants fall under this proclamation. The consensus here should be that a person in any of the Member States should have her rights recognized and observed by the Member State. This way, immigrants will be undeniably entitled to their rights even if they are not “peoples of the Member States,” which may refer to citizens, residents or other inclusions.

Here are some of the unique human rights issues from immigrants’ perspectives, mostly students at our college. If the observance of human rights is something you have never given thought to, perhaps now you should — for the betterment of lives.

Part 1

“Sister”

One immigrant who has lived in the United States for four years spoke of a typical dilemma. She was driving from Los Angeles to San Diego with a recently arrived immigrant from her own country.  They drove mostly in silence, only interrupted by brief chats. She explained their final words together after arriving at their destination this way:

“He clearly reminded me of my home country,” she said. “It was just the way he talked and carried his luggage. But what caught me off guard was when he said ‘bye, sister’ before he left. That sealed our closeness and gave me something to fondly consider for the next few weeks.”

“I had missed that phrase,” she continued, “because I am nobody’s sister in America. People do not even say ‘hello’ when they see me for a second time, let alone call me a ‘friend’ or a ‘sister.’ Being consistently ignored and not receiving warm greetings reserved to well-established and eloquent people have been desensitizing to me. But that guy woke me up!”

If the people of the United Nations have determined to promote “better standards of life” as written in the preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, should it not start with consciously welcoming greetings? Looking towards a more global world requires not just seeking to communicate with people in other continents, but also engaging the immigrants here in the United States. That will make the change into a different lifestyle easier for them and will decrease polarization by race.

With the internet, telecommuting and the expanding tolerance of diversity in societies, reaching social and business goals has become easier. Yet some groups do not telecommute. Instead, they cross seas and borders to work and live in a different country for political, economic and intellectual reasons. Observance and promotion of human rights for immigrants will allow for a smoother transition. Specifically, article 19 of the UDHR says:

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression…freedom to hold opinions…and to seek, receive impart information and ideas.”

Without being welcomed, an immigrant would not exercise Article 19, and express herself or impart information because she is not invited to talk in the first place.

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