Click to expand Image Director of Divisional Emergency Response of the Salvation Army William Trueblood (L) distributes food outside the Cayce United Methodist Church in Cayce, Kentucky, US, December 15, 2021, five days after tornadoes hit the area. © 2021 Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images The Washington Post reports that the US government is requiring organizations receiving federal funding, including from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), not to “operate any program that benefits illegal immigrants” in the aftermath of disasters.But the foundational principle of human rights is that everyone, regardless of race, religion, nationality, or legal status, is entitled, by virtue of their shared humanity, to be treated according to the same basic precepts. This moral code is especially critical during crises when “us versus them” instincts often prevail. The practical implications of these new contract requirements are still unclear, but they raise alarming questions. Will the Red Cross and the Salvation Army have to check documents before providing food and shelter to disaster-displaced people? Out of fear that they will lose their jobs and their organizations their funding, will humanitarian workers avoid the darker-skinned person who asks for help in a foreign language? In the aftermath of the Holocaust and World War II, the nations of the world, including the United States, agreed to a Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which recognized “the inherent dignity and … the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family.” At issue is a core values question: Is there any universal humanitarian principle that takes precedence over the raw animus toward undocumented people that now seems to be a bedrock principle of US government policy?My work centers on refugees worldwide, whose own governments have persecuted them or otherwise failed in the core obligation to protect them. They seek asylum based not on their claim to citizenship but rather on their claim to a common humanity. Governments have recognized their obligation not to return them to places where their lives or freedom would be threatened, a universal principle that has saved countless lives.Rising flood waters, wildfires, and earthquakes not only cause enormous hardship to the survivors but also take and threaten lives. The Washington Post cited an anonymous former FEMA official saying the new standards are not limited to nonprofits but could apply to all agencies that work with FEMA, including search-and-rescue groups. Do Americans really want emergency responders to check IDs before throwing a lifeline? Americans need to decide when “humanity first” should be the most relevant principle to guide US policy.