The young people we work with are forced to live in a culture of hate which continues churning poisonous rhetoric and making our world unsafe. Though youth are leading the movement to end white supremacy and gun violence, their efforts are thwarted by politicians and pundits who treat human beings as expendable. 

On Monday, July 8, Secretary Pompeo announced the creation of a Commission on Unalienable Rights, chaired by Professor Mary Ann Glendon. He promised that the commission would undertake “a review of the role of human rights in American foreign policy.” This Commission is merely the State Department’s attempt to narrowly redefine the human rights of women and girls, young people, and LGBTQ people under so-called religious liberty. 

Youth activists are leading the fight to end the abuses of the Trump Administration, of ICE, and of border patrol. We must commit to working alongside these young leaders to end the abuses of those seeking safety in the U.S.