Rally Speech: Human Rights Violations
[Speech given to Tableau employees at “Drawing A Line: Tableau Rally For Human Rights,” an employee demonstration held on October 29, 2019. Lightly edited for clarity and sourcing.]
Thank you to all my fellow Tableau employees for taking time to be here this afternoon.
I’d like to start with a quote from someone we all know, who really summed up well why it’s important to stand up for immigrant rights:
… We are strongest when we embrace and embody our national values of tolerance, collaboration, inclusion, and respect. If we want to live these values, then we need to base policy on intelligent and nuanced analysis — on data — rather than on fear. That is not a political statement, nor a partisan statement, nor a commentary on any person. It is a statement about being willing to stand up for what is right.
These were strong, compassionate words written by our CEO, Adam, when the Muslim ban was enacted almost three years ago. Back then, we looked to Adam to set an ethical standard for our company. Now we urge him and his team to make a similar stand today.
The issues that our company, our country, and our world, are facing when it comes to immigration are not about politics or partisanship — they are about doing the right thing. That’s why we are “Drawing A Line” today.
This is not going to be a political speech, a partisan speech or a commentary about any person or group. This is about the facts related to specific human-rights violations that gathered us together today. You may have seen some of the issues I’ll talk about in the news, but I’ll also be sharing specific principles we believe have been violated, but that news reports might skip over.
I will focus on principles related to asylum seeking, family separations and equal protections. People from all sides agree that agencies have violated these fundamental guarantees of human rights.
Since 1951, the UN Refugee Convention has guaranteed EVERY person arriving in the US the right to seek asylum. This is a fundamental human right, and it has been for almost 70 years. And yet, we have seen some migrants illegally denied asylum at the US border, while others have been forced to wait for their asylum hearings in potentially unsafe conditions they are fleeing in the first place.
The UN Declaration of Human Rights, Article 16, Section 3 states that “The family … is entitled to protection by society and the State.” And yet, we know that the US government has separated thousands of families at the border. Prior to 2017, immigration cases involving parents were handled as civil cases; but the current administration began a so-called “zero tolerance” policy, using criminal prosecutions instead, which meant that parents were imprisoned and children were ripped from their parents arms without plans to reunite them.
The US Constitution’s 14th Amendment guarantees citizens equal protection under the law. And yet this summer, ICE detained Francisco Galicia, a high-school student, for 23 days, even though he had documents proving he was a citizen.
Martin Luther King said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
So you see, this goes beyond politics and partisanship. A line has been crossed, fundamental human rights are being violated, and we won’t be complicit. This industry movement is growing, and we thank you for coming and being a part of it today.
We all hope that our company will also draw a line and stand up for what is right.
Next: Rally Speech: Drawing a Line
Summary statement: Drawing a Line
