Today, on the 60th anniversary of the publication of the "Appeal for Human Rights," written by Dr. Roslyn Pope and the leaders of the Atlanta Student Movement, Freedom University undocumented leaders Arizbeth Sanchez and Rafael Aragón authored a historic "Undocumented Appeal for Human Rights.”

With the mentorship of Dr. Roslyn Pope herself, as well as Dr. Laura Emiko Soltis, Tanya Washington, and Charles Black, Arizbeth and Rafael constructed the Undocumented Appeal in the same structure as the original. In this 2020 version, however, they highlighted the human rights violations experienced by undocumented people in the United States today. Gathered in Emiko’s living room, they shared ideas, laughed together, made edits, and finalized the draft of the Undocumented Appeal across racial and generational differences.

Arizbeth and Rafael closed the "Undocumented Appeal for Human Rights" with the same words written by Dr. Pope sixty years earlier, which was published one week prior to the massive student sit-ins that brought segregation to its knees in Atlanta and throughout the South: "We must say in all candor that we plan to use every legal and non-violent means at our disposal to secure full citizenship rights as members of this great Democracy of ours."

Read this inspiring document today and please share widely with your networks.

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An Undocumented Appeal for Human Rights

March 9, 2020

Published on the 60th Anniversary of the Appeal for Human Rights 

by Dr. Roslyn Pope and the Atlanta Student Movement of March 9, 1960

We, as undocumented young people, recognize the parallels between our fight for human rights and that of Black citizens in the United States. We have resolved to create this appeal to honor the Black student activists who fought against segregation in Atlanta in the early 1960s. We offer this appeal to articulate the human rights violations we face as undocumented people today. We are joining “our hearts, minds, and bodies in the cause of gaining those rights which are inherently ours as members of the human race” and as citizens of this world. We commit ourselves to one another and to this fight, so that all marginalized people might take courage from our actions. Human rights apply to all of us, including the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. Regardless of where we are born and what borders we may cross, human rights are ours simply by virtue of our humanity. We present to the American people the following violations of our human rights as they are protected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of 1948. 

1) Education

In the state of Georgia, undocumented students are barred from equal access to public universities, solely on the basis of our immigration status. This is a violation of our human right to education as protected by Article 26 of the UDHR. Georgia Board of Regents’ Policy 4.1.6 bans us from attending the state’s top public universities and Policy 4.3.4 bans us from in-state tuition at all other public universities. In effect, we are barred from admission to the universities that we, as taxpayers, help fund. While 23 states currently grant undocumented students in-state tuition to public universities, Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama have implemented a form of admissions ban against undocumented students. In doing so, these Southern states have ushered in a new era of Jim Crow educational segregation.

2) Jobs

Article 23 of the UDHR guarantees everyone the right to work, to free choice of employment, to favorable conditions of work, and the right to join unions. Undocumented workers are the backbone of the most backbreaking industries. While undocumented workers make up only five percent of the entire U.S. workforce, they disproportionately make up 36 percent of all domestic workers and 26 percent of all agricultural workers. These are the industries with the weakest labor rights protections, in part because their historical antecedents are rooted in enslaved African labor and racism. While undocumented workers are often pitted against Black citizen workers, this false division only serves to keep our communities from forging solidarity in a country that eagerly accepts our labor, but systematically denies our human rights. 

3) Housing

Housing is a human right. Article 17 of the UDHR states that “Everyone has the right to own property.” Undocumented people construct homes in which we cannot afford to live and construct university buildings from which we are barred. Many undocumented immigrants live as tenants in rented housing, and only 31 percent own homes. Even when we manage to become homeowners, our stability is constantly undermined by the actions of the US government, including home raids, traffic stops, work raids, detention, and deportation. This persistent housing instability diminishes access to healthy food, clean water, and fresh air; limits opportunities for work and education; and undermines basic human dignity.

4) Voting

Article 21 of the UDHR states that everyone has the right to take part in the government of their country. Undocumented people pay local, state, and federal taxes. Each year, we contribute approximately $12 billion in taxes nationally and $352 million in state taxes in Georgia alone. But without the right to vote, undocumented immigrants are experiencing taxation without representation. This is not only a violation of our human rights, it is a violation of this country’s founding principles.

5) Healthcare

Article 25 of the UDHR guarantees all people the right to a standard of living adequate for health and well-being. 45 percent of undocumented people lack health insurance. The violation of the right to healthcare has serious public health consequences. In the case of an epidemic, undocumented workers who lack health insurance or paid sick leave will be economically compelled to continue working. With many undocumented laborers working with children and the elderly in home care, and working at all levels of the food industry, our inability to seek treatment can escalate the spread of diseases and put those with compromised health at risk. The failure of the U.S. government to secure universal healthcare is detrimental to all.

6) Freedom of Movement

Article 13 of the UDHR states that “everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State,” and the right to leave and return to one’s country. In Georgia, undocumented people are not eligible to receive a driver’s license. Routine traffic stops may result in deportations, which require us to limit our daily movements. Restricting our ability to receive a driver’s license is a public safety issue that impacts everyone. Our roads are safer when all drivers are eligible to take driving tests, receive a driver’s license, and drive without fear of deportation. Moreover, our current immigration system prevents us from crossing international borders if we hope to ever return home. Many of us have and will never see the family members we left behind on our journeys to the United States. 

7) Law Enforcement

Article 7 of the UDHR states that all people are “equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law.” Undocumented immigrants’ interaction with law enforcement has little to do with actual criminal activity, and everything to do with the criminalization of our humanity. The current Governor of Georgia recently bragged, “I got a big truck, just in case I need to round up criminal illegals and take 'em home myself.” This rhetoric has justified extreme policing in our communities, despite evidence showing that undocumented immigrants engage in lower levels of criminal activity than the general population. When all people are not equal before the law and are afraid of the authorities meant to keep us all safe, it threatens public safety for everyone. 

WE HOLD THAT:

1. The overall treatment of undocumented people in the United States is in violation of numerous rights articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

2. The segregation of people, in the classroom as well as in the public sphere, is detrimental to the creation of a beloved community and serves only to deepen the divides that already exist in our nation. 

3. The taxing of our people without affording us political representation is tyrannical and in direct opposition to the ideals on which this country was founded.

4. In a nation that is continuously falling behind other developed countries in educational standards, we must invest in the best and brightest among us, regardless of race, gender, migration status, sexual orientation, ability, or religion.

5. The treatment of undocumented people at U.S. borders and in detention centers across the country sets an abhorrent example for the treatment of other immigrants and refugees around the world. 

6. The treatment of undocumented people in the United States is an affront to this country’s values of democracy, freedom, and justice. Should our country seek to be the standard bearer of liberty in the world, we must treat those with the least among us with respect, especially our “tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” 

We, the students of Freedom University, an Atlanta-based freedom school for undocumented students, are empowered by our human rights education. We recognize that our rights and dignity are not derived from a government, but are inherent to our humanity. Most importantly, we are students of history. And history shows us that when young people unite and boldly fight for a vision of a better world, they win. In honoring the words of Dr. Roslyn Pope and the members of the Atlanta Student Movement: “We, therefore, call upon all people in authority — State, County, and City officials; all leaders in civic life — ministers, teachers, and businessmen; and all people of good will to assert themselves and abolish these injustices. We must say in all candor that we plan to use every legal and non-violent means at our disposal to secure full citizenship rights as members of this great Democracy of ours.”

Signed, 

Arizbeth Sanchez and Rafael Aragón, authors

Dr. Roslyn Pope, Dr. Laura Emiko Soltis, Charles Black, and Tanya Washington, mentors