Tensions between the United Nations and Washington have escalated after a UN-backed panel issued a report condemning what it described as an alleged ‘racist hate speech’ rhetoric by the current administration of United States President Donald Trump.
The panel, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) warned that alleged ‘racist hate speech’ from Trump and other high-level U.S officials is fueling “grave human rights violations” and inciting a climate of intolerance against migrants and asylum seekers.
The committee’s report specifically highlighted the use of “derogatory and dehumanizing language,” noting that portraying certain groups as criminals or a “burden” fosters an environment where racial profiling and hate crimes can flourish.
The report reads in part: “Racist hate speech by political leaders, including the President, combined with intensified immigration crackdowns in the United States, notably near schools, hospitals, and faith-based institutions, has sparked grave human rights violations, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) warned today.
“The Committee was deeply disturbed by the growing use of derogatory and dehumanizing language, and the dissemination of harmful stereotypes targeting migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. “Portraying them as criminals or as a burden, by politicians and influential public figures at the highest level, particularly the President,” the Committee said, “may incite racial discrimination and hate crimes.”
“It underscored that the systematic use of racial profiling and arbitrary identity checks by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) against people of Hispanic/Latino, African, or Asian origin has resulted in widespread arrests of refugees, asylum seekers, migrants, and people perceived as such.
“The Committee also raised alarm that the lives and physical integrity of the above vulnerable groups are jeopardised by the excessive use of force and violence by enforcement officers during immigration operations. It cited that at least eight people have died since January 2026 during ICE operations or while in ICE custody, including protesters exercising their right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association and detained refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants.
“In addition, the Committee raised a red flag over the State Party’s decisions to rescind long-standing guidelines and policies limiting immigration enforcement operations and arrests in and near schools, hospitals, and faith-based institutions. This, it warned, “hinders migrants, in particular undocumented migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and those perceived as such, from accessing essential services, such as healthcare, and education.”
However, the White House swiftly dismissed the report, calling it “useless” and “biased”.
“Their extreme bias continues to prove why no one takes them seriously,” said White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales, who noted Trump’s efforts to secure the US border.
“No one cares what the biased United Nations’ so-called ‘experts’ think, because Americans are living in a safer, stronger country than ever before.”
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that the reports come as Trump has embarked on sweeping efforts to deport undocumented migrants during his second term.
Trump’s administration also deployed thousands of federal agents into U.S cities, including Minneapolis earlier this year, to conduct sweeping raids as part of that deportation drive.
His comments on immigration have at times sparked a major backlash, such as in December when he said Somali immigrants should “go back to where they came from” and the U.S would “go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country”.
