Geneva, Switzerland, August 8 2022 – Today, the Haitian Bridge Alliance, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Human Rights First, The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services  submitted a Shadow Report to the United Nations’ Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) during its 107th session, denouncing anti-Black discrimination against non-citizens and ongoing violations of international protections for migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers of African descent in and at the border of the United States. The report was also endorsed by Communities United for Status and Protection and the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti. 

The report argues that the US immigration and refugee laws, regulations, policies and practices are in violation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The link to the full report can be found here. 

Guerline Jozef, Founder and Executive Director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, shared the following from Geneva:  

“I will never forget the horrors I witnessed the United States commit against Black toddlers in Del Rio, Texas. The viral photo of the officer on horseback chasing and whipping a Black man getting his family food is only the tip of the iceberg: It is the product of a systemically racist approach to treating Black women, men, children—even babies—with cruelty. We submit this report alongside our partners in an effort to document these atrocities and demand the United States do all withing its reach to fully rescind Title 42, do a complete wind down of the Migrant Protection Protocols, and treat people with basic human dignity.”