Trump's immigration comments may incite hate crimes, UN watchdog says

A United Nations watchdog has warned that "racist hate speech" used by President Donald Trump and other US politicians has fuelled human rights violations.

A report by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), a UN-backed panel of independent experts, urged the US to respect international law and review its human rights policies.

It said the portrayal of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers "as criminals or ​as a burden by politicians and influential public figures at the highest level of the state party, particularly its president" may incite racial discrimination and hate crimes.

The White House dismissed the report, calling it "useless" and "biased".