Humans cannot be ‘illegal’ immigrants

On Sunday night, Nov. 15, someone wrote over the statement “No Human Being is Illegal” on the East Campus bridge with the allegation that some humans are indeed “illegal.” The statement was written over the previous sentence and read, “Some human beings are illegal—i.e. Pedro.” 

At Duke we pride ourselves as an institution committed to excellence. We form a diverse community with people from many different religious, socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. To write a statement that alleges that a sub-caste of humans exist in the United States and (more shockingly) to assume a particular race is tied to that group, “illegals” known as “Pedro,” is a racist smear to what this University represents. At Duke, we should foster discussion in beneficial avenues rather than simply scrawling hate on the East bridge.

All humans are worthy and dignified individuals. No human being is illegal. Illegal would suggest that some people are simply nonexistent or invalid. How can a person be invalid? A human being may enter the U.S. without documentation and is therefore “undocumented” but he or she does not simply lose humanity by crossing a line. Moreover, what can be said about the individual who believes all men named “Pedro” are unworthy of respect? At Duke we are better than this, we cannot support blanketed and prejudiced statements against innocent people. We cannot stand for racism in our community.

Lucy Zhang

Trinity ’10

Founder, Duke Students for Humane Borders