“No human being is illegal”
“No human being is illegal” is a popular slogan that has been printed on many gift items, such as T-shirts, hats and buttons. “You who are so-called illegal aliens must know that no human being is ‘illegal’” was cited in print in 1985. However, the slogan was popularized in 1988, as this September 1988 newspaper opinion by Coretta Scott King shows:
“The No Human Being is Illegal Campaign, a Washington, D.C.-based coalition of Central American refugee groups, is calling for the United States to pressure Salvadoran officials to dismantle the death squads and more actively foster freedom of speech and association.”
In 2013, the Associated Press banned the term “illegal immigrant” from its news reporting.
Google Books
Sanctuary:
A resource guide for understanding and participating in the Central American refugees’ struggle
By Gary MacEóin (Tucson Ecumenical Council. Task Force for Central America)
San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row
1985
Pg. 10:
You who are so-called illegal aliens must know that no human being is “illegal.”
Google News Archive
20 September 1988, Miami (FL) News, “Give Salvadorans Refugee Status” by Coretta Scott King, pg. 15A, col. 1:
The No Human Being is Illegal Campaign, a Washington, D.C.-based coalition of Central American refugee groups, is calling for the United States to pressure Salvadoran officials to dismantle the death squads and more actively foster freedom of speech and association.
21 December 1990, Dallas (TX) Morning News, “Refugees hail pact with INS” by Frank Trejo:
Mr. Herrera wore a T-shirt with the words: “No Human Being Is Illegal.’
OCLC WorldCat record
No human being is illegal, no migrant worker is illegal, 1996-2006
Author: Mūnnithi phư̄a Sukkhaphāp Iæ Kānrīanrū khō̜ng Rǣngngān Klum Chāttiphan.
Publisher: Chiang Mai : The Foundation, 2006.
Edition/Format: Book : English
Google Books
Migrant Smuggling:
Irregular Migration from Asia and Africa to Europe
By Anna Triandafyllidou and Thanos Maroukis
New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan
2012
Pp. 9-10:
Indeed, human rights and migrant NGOs have used the slogan ‘No human being is illegal’ to denounce the criminalizing effects of using the term ‘illegal migrant’.