No one is illegal

Last updated July 17, 2025

No one is illegal logo

No one is illegal sticker in Dutch Niemandisillegaal.jpg — No one is illegal sticker in Dutch

No one is illegal is a loosely connected international network that advocates for refugees and migrants present in a country unlawfully.^[1] Activists in the network take initiatives in favor of undocumented migrants who stay in a country illegally and are at risk of deportation. The network has started a campaign and held rallies to bring wider attention to the situation of refugees. The campaign initially began in Germany as No Person Is Illegal (German: Kein Mensch ist illegal or kmii) and has spread to other countries, including Canada and Belgium. "No one is illegal" questions the idea of citizenship as a legal condition for access to and participation in the socio-political sphere.^[2]

Germany

History

The first use of the phrase is attributed to Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel in 1988, who used "No Human Being Is Illegal" on a flyer at the "National Campaign for the Civil and Human Rights of Salvadorans".^[3]

No Person Is Illegal was founded in 1997 at the "documenta X" art exhibition in Kassel.^[4] After a few weeks, thousands of individuals joined as well as the 200 groups and organisations that had joined them in appealing to "help immigrants begin and continue their journeys towards obtaining work and documentation, medical care, education and training, and to assure accommodation and physical survival" regardless of their immigration status. The founding followed the death of deportee Aamir Ageeb at the hands of the German Federal Police. In the wake of Ageeb's death, the "Deportation-Class" campaign set its aims towards airlines that took part in deportations. The campaign culminated in a 2001 online demonstration in conjunction with Libertad. No Person Is Illegal and "Deportation-Class" have drawn the attention of Germany's "Annual Report on the Protection of the Constitution" due to purported connections with "left-wing extremism".^[5]

Switzerland

Switzerland Bildung für Alle (Education for All) organization has its own specific task which is attempting to achieve permanent legal stay for immigrants. The organization founded the Autonomous School Zurich, a grassroots project that offers schooling for all, run by immigrants as well as Swiss locals.

Canada

A NOII collective of organizations has been established in a number of Canadian cities, including Winnipeg, Vancouver, Toronto, Halifax, Fredericton, Ottawa, Montreal (where Jaggi Singh has been associated), and London. Activist Harsha Walia is an organizer for the Vancouver chapter, while Yanisa Wu, Kelly Campbell, Sherry Viloria, Evan Macintosh, Jayelyn Rae, Hazim Ismail, and Mitchell van Ineveld organize for the Winnipeg chapter.^[6]

References

↑ Beckett, Lois (7 April 2021). "'A system of global apartheid': author Harsha Walia on why the border crisis is a myth". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
↑ Crouzé, Ronald; Meurs, Pieter; Huysmans, Minne (18 March 2021). "No one is illegal. Niemand is illegaal! Personne n'est illegal?". Hannah Arendt Instituut (in Dutch). Retrieved 8 May 2021.
↑ Huber, Wolfgang (9 July 2001). "Kein Mensch ist illegal – Der Auftrag der Kirchen gegenüber Menschen ohne Aufenthaltsstatus" [No Human Being is Illegel – The Duty of Churches Towards People Without Residency Status]. Evangelical Church in Germany (in German). Archived from the original on 11 February 2007. Der Friedensnobelpreisträger und ehemalige Ausschwitz-Häftling Elie Wiesel hat dies in seiner häufig zitierten Rede vor Menschen ohne Aufenthaltsstatus folgendermaßen ausgedrückt: 'Ihr, die ihr sogenannte illegale Fremde seid, müsst wissen, dass kein menschliches Wesen „illegal" ist. Dies ist ein Widerspruch in sich. Menschen können schön oder weniger schön sein, sie können gerecht oder ungerecht sein, aber illegal? Wie kann ein menschliches Wesen illegal sein?' (1) Menschen können sich illegal verhalten, aber ihre Existenz kann nicht illegal sein.[The Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Auschwitz prisoner Elie Wiesel expressed this as follows in his frequently quoted speech to people without residency status: "You who are so-called illegal aliens must know that no human being is illegal. That is a contradiction in terms. Human beings can be beautiful or more beautiful, they can be fat or skinny, they can be right or wrong, but illegal? How can a human being be illegal?" (1) People can behave illegally, but their existence cannot be illegal.]
↑ "Sans papier". bok.net. 4 July 1997. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
↑ "Antirassismus" [Anti-Racism]. Ministry of the Interior (in German). State of North Rhine-Westphalia. Archived from the original on 9 June 2009. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
↑ Condon, Sean (21 May 2013). "From global action, local motion: Harsha Walia seeks justice for Vancouver newcomers". Megaphone Magazine. Retrieved 19 April 2023.

AutorInnenkollektiv (2000): Ohne Papiere in Europa. Illegalisierung der Migration. Selbstorganisation und Unterstützungsprojekte in Europa. ISBN 3-924737-49-5
cross the border (Hg.) (1999): kein mensch ist illegal. Ein Handbuch zu einer Kampagne. ISBN 3-89408-087-6
Gerda Heck: ›Illegale Einwanderung‹. Eine umkämpfte Konstruktion in Deutschland und den USA. Edition DISS Band 17. Münster 2008. ISBN 978-3-89771-746-6
Thomas, Jens (10 November 2008). "Geschlossene Gesellschaft". Telepolis . Retrieved 19 April 2023.

External links

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[1] Beckett, Lois (7 April 2021). "'A system of global apartheid': author Harsha Walia on why the border crisis is a myth". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 May 2021.

[2] Crouzé, Ronald; Meurs, Pieter; Huysmans, Minne (18 March 2021). "No one is illegal. Niemand is illegaal! Personne n'est illegal?". Hannah Arendt Instituut (in Dutch). Retrieved 8 May 2021.

[3] Huber, Wolfgang (9 July 2001). "Kein Mensch ist illegal – Der Auftrag der Kirchen gegenüber Menschen ohne Aufenthaltsstatus" [No Human Being is Illegel – The Duty of Churches Towards People Without Residency Status]. Evangelical Church in Germany (in German). Archived from the original on 11 February 2007. Der Friedensnobelpreisträger und ehemalige Ausschwitz-Häftling Elie Wiesel hat dies in seiner häufig zitierten Rede vor Menschen ohne Aufenthaltsstatus folgendermaßen ausgedrückt: 'Ihr, die ihr sogenannte illegale Fremde seid, müsst wissen, dass kein menschliches Wesen „illegal" ist. Dies ist ein Widerspruch in sich. Menschen können schön oder weniger schön sein, sie können gerecht oder ungerecht sein, aber illegal? Wie kann ein menschliches Wesen illegal sein?' (1) Menschen können sich illegal verhalten, aber ihre Existenz kann nicht illegal sein.[The Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Auschwitz prisoner Elie Wiesel expressed this as follows in his frequently quoted speech to people without residency status: "You who are so-called illegal aliens must know that no human being is illegal. That is a contradiction in terms. Human beings can be beautiful or more beautiful, they can be fat or skinny, they can be right or wrong, but illegal? How can a human being be illegal?" (1) People can behave illegally, but their existence cannot be illegal.]

[bok-4] "Sans papier". bok.net. 4 July 1997. Retrieved 7 May 2017.

[5] "Antirassismus" [Anti-Racism]. Ministry of the Interior (in German). State of North Rhine-Westphalia. Archived from the original on 9 June 2009. Retrieved 18 October 2011.

[6] Condon, Sean (21 May 2013). "From global action, local motion: Harsha Walia seeks justice for Vancouver newcomers". Megaphone Magazine. Retrieved 19 April 2023.

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