International human rights law Part 26

ADVOCATES SHOULD USE APPLICABLE INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS TO ADDRESS VIOLATIONS OF UNDOCUMENTED MIGRANT WORKERS’ RIGHTS IN THE UNITED STATES
Connie de la Vega and Conchita Lozano-Batista
Hastings Race and Poverty Law Journal
Volume 3, Number 1, Fall 2005 p.35

As the economic gap between rich and poor countries continues to grow, those living in poor countries migrate to richer countries to survive. Migrants who succeed in completing the journey to receiving countries are often subjected to human rights violations in the workplace. More particularly, the human rights violations encompass violations of the right to organize in order to be free from exploitative conditions, the right to equality before the law, and the right to legal recourse. This article will provide migrant rights advocates in the U.S. with international legal standards that can be used to address domestic human rights abuses. The authors will provide a guide to applicable international law and suggest how these standards may be used to protect migrant workers. The first part of the article describes the working conditions undocumented migrants endure in the United States, highlighting recent human rights violations. The article then discusses Hoffman Plastics Compounds, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board, 535 U.S. 137, decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2002, which limited the remedies available to undocumented workers for violations of workplace rights, and its impact on court decisions that deal with areas of the National Labor Relations Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, availability of certain causes of action, discovery requests, personal injury and tort cases, and disability law. While the Hoffman decision was based on the compatibility of labor and immigration law, neither the Court nor the briefs submitted addressed international legal obligations and binding treaty law that might have affected the outcome-a disturbing fact given the outcome and repercussions of the case, and given that there is international law bearing directly on the point.

The Intersection of Immigration Law and Civil Rights Law: Noncitizen Workers and the International Human Rights Paradigm
Marà­a Pabón López
University of Louisville Law Review
Volume 44, Number 3, Spring 2006 p.611

Osaka District Court, Judgment, March 9, 2004
Japanese Yearbook of International Law
Volume 48, 2005 p.164

Article 14(3)(b) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights — Right to a Fair Trial — Right to Communicate with Counsel — General Comments of the Human Rights Committee — United Nations Resolutions on the Right to Communicate with Counsel — Articles 31(3) and 32 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties — Invocation of the General Comments in Domestic Courts

Protecting Human Rights in a Time of Terror: the Role of National and International Law
Rt Hon KJ Keith
Waikato Law Review
Volume 14, 2006

Boyakasha, Fist to Fist: Respect and the Philosophical Link with Reciprocity in International Law and Human Rights
Donald J. Kochan
George Washington International Law Review
Volume 38, Number 2, 2006 p.349

EXPLORING THE LIMITS OF International human rights law
Margaret E. McGuinness
Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law
Volume 34, Number 2, Winter 2006 p.393

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

Human Rights Committee, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, International human rights law.