The Trump administration ousted or undermined career foreign affairs professionals and reframed human rights to support a political agenda favoring the strong over the weak. The administration rewrote the State Department's annual human rights reports, deleting key sections and eroding their credibility. Those reports historically informed U.S. decisions on assistance, sanctions, immigration and asylum and supported legal cases and advocacy. The proposed refugee admissions plan sharply reduces intake and shifts policy priorities. The combined changes threaten equality, justice and human security globally by reinforcing rights of powerful actors while weakening protections for vulnerable populations.
When the second Donald Trump administration began, many worried that it would abandon America's long-standing, bipartisan commitment to human rights around the world. This was the concern during the first administration, too, but career foreign affairs professionals continued much of the day-to-day work that has supported human rights for decades. This time around, however, President Trump's team ousted or undermined anyone who might try to stay the course and has taken an even more nefarious approach.
Rather than ignore human rights, the administration is twisting the concept in support of a political agenda that undermines equality, justice and human security in the world by reinforcing only the rights of the strong at the expense of the weak. Two recent examples are particularly alarming: the rewriting of the U.S. State Department's annual human rights reports and the proposed plan for refugee admissions.
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