Advocacy
The CHRC supports initiatives that promote the human rights of all children
The CHRC contributes to an Alternative Report to the Periodic Report of the U.S. to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Concerning the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography
June 18, 2012, Geneva Switzerland - CHRC Director, Katherine Kaufka Walts, participated in a pre-session meeting with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to present findings and recommendations from the CHRC Alternative Report to the Periodic Report of the United States government to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Concerning the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Prostitution, and Pornography (OPSC). The Committee makes recommendations to governments to improve their efforts to stop the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. The CHRC/Young Center report focuses on sale of children for labor and labor trafficking in the United States.
In 2011, together with ECPAT-USA, the CHRC hosted a regional meeting of NGOs, scholars, and advocates to contribute to the Alternative report to the US Government Report to the UN Committe on the Rights of the Child concerning the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (OPSC). In addition to being signatories of the ECPAT-USA alternative report, the CHRC and the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights published a supplemental alternative report focusing on sale of children for forced labor in the US.
The CHRC would like to thank students Natnael Moges (School of Law), and Catherine Lee (CAS, Psychology Dept) for their research and contributions to the alternative report.
To see a copy of the alternative report, click the links below.
CHRC/Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights Alternative Report 2012
2012 Alternative Report Appendix A
2012 ECPAT-USA Alternative Report
from left to right: Maria Woltjen, Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights, Katherine Kaufka Walts, Loyola U. Chicago Center for the Human Rights of Children, Jonathan Todres, Professor of Law at Georgia State University College of Law, Gertrud Lenzer, Director of the Children's Studies Center at Brooklyn College, and Carol Smolenski, Executive Director of ECPAT-USA, in front of the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Obama Administration Plan to Stop Deportations of DREAM Act Youth
The Center for the Human Rights of Children continues to support the DREAM Act. As such, the CHRC commends Obama’s announcement on June 16, 2012, which halts removal proceedings for eligible DREAM Act-eligible immigrant children. Those who demonstrate that they meet certain criteria will be eligible to receive deferred action and protected from removal proceedings for a period of two years, subject to renewal. It provides discretionary relief to approximately 800,000 young adults who were brought to this country at a young age, with or without their consent. It also allows them to work legally, to provide for themselves and their families, and to contribute to the U.S. via tax revenue. This does not constitute the comprehensive, original DREAM Act, but is still a promising motion toward advancing the rights and protections of undocumented immigrant youth.
The Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors (DREAM) Act
Over three million students graduate from U.S. high schools every year. A majority of them have the opportunity to pursue their dreams and live their American story. However, approximately 65,000 youth are not able to do so. They cannot drive, cannot work legally, cannot further their education, nor can they pay taxes to contribute to the economy, simply because they were brought to this country illegally by their parents or lost their legal status along the way. These youth have lived in the U.S. for most of their lizican-born youth. The DREAM Act is a bipartisan legislation, pioneered by Senator Orin Hatch (R-UT) and Illinois's own Senator Richard Durbin (D). Under its provisions, eligible undocumented youth would qualify for a six-year-long conditional path to citizenship that requires completion of a college degree or two years of military service. The CHRC offers its continued support of the Act as it works its way through Congress. On Wednesday, December 8th, 2010, the DREAM Act passed in the House.