In the early 1970s, Haitians began migrating by sea to south Florida without authorization. Influential economic and social elites in that region pressed for federal action to deter this population stream. Until 1981, arriving Haitian boat people were detained in Florida, and most were deported as rapidly as possible. Since 1981, the U.S. government has used the Coast Guard to intercept boats laden with Haitian migrants. Since May 1992, “interdicted” Haitian vessels have been escorted back to Haiti, without affording passengers an opportunity to request political asylum in the United States. Although this policy has aroused condemnation from many observers as inhumane and discriminatory, the U.S. government arguably has the administrative, legal, and political ability to uphold it. Political criticism of the interception policy has helped induce the U.S. government to act in favor of a democratic regime in Haiti. Such a political trend would undercut the argument that Haitian boat people are fleeing political persecution and would bolster the policy of repatriation. As both U.S. political leaders and the general public become more restrictionist, the policy of returning Haitian boat people may, unfortunately, come to seem normal rather than anomalous.
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References
1.
1. Cf. Susan Buchanan Stafford, “The Haitians: The Cultural Meaning of Race and Ethnicity,” in New Immigrants in New York, ed. Nancy Foner (New York: Columbia University Press, 1987).
2.
2. Immigration data in this and the preceding paragraph are drawn from U.S., Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1991 Statistical Yearbook, tab. 2, pp. 29-30.
3.
3. Florida groups urging action to slow migration by sea argued “that the boat people were a disruptive force, destroying the community and draining public resources.”Alex Stepick, “Unintended Consequences: Rejecting Haitian Boat People and Destabilizing Duvalier,” in Western Hemisphere Immigration and United States Foreign Policy, ed. Christopher Mitchell (University Park, PA: Penn State Press, 1992), pp. 133-135.
4.
4. On the Refugee Act, see U.S., Congress, House, Committee on the Judiciary, Immigration and Nationality Act, with Amendments and Notes on Related Laws, 7th ed. (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1980).
5.
5. See Sarah Ignatius, An Interim Assessment of the Asylum Process of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Law School, National Asylum Study Project, 1992).
6.
6. The United Nations Development Programme has devised a Human Development Index (HDI) for nations, combining indicators of real purchasing power, education, and health. Haiti stands at number 137 out of 173 nations in the HDI ranking; its neighbor, the Dominican Republic, is number 97; Venezuela is number 50; and the United States is number 6. Haitian gross domestic product per capita in 1990 stood at $933, while for the United States the same variable was $21,449. See United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report 1993 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), pp. 135-137, tab. 1.
7.
7. There is a good case to be made that these stark alternatives distort the reality of mixed motivations for population movement. Migrants' motives are especially likely to be both economic and political in Haiti, where for many decades the state and its repressive capacity have been the principal sources of an economic surplus for elites. See Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Haiti: State against Nation (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1990).
8.
8. See, for example, Randall Robinson and Benjamin Hooks, “Haitians: Locked Out Because They're Black,”Washington Post, 24 Aug. 1992.
9.
9. Stepick, “Unintended Consequences,” pp. 144-147.
10.
10. Amnesty International, Haiti: The Human Rights Tragedy—Human Rights Violations since the Coup (New York: Amnesty International, 1992).
11.
11. Barbara Crosette, “House Passes Bill to Let Haitians Stay at Guantánamo for 6 Months,”New York Times, 28 Feb. 1992.
12.
12. Amnesty International, Haiti: Human Rights Held at Ransom (London: Amnesty International, 1992).
13.
13. Barbara Crosette, “U.S. to Close Refugee Camp at Guantánamo to Haitians,”New York Times, 29 May 1992.
14.
14. Michael Wines, “Switching Policy, U.S. Will Return Refugees to Haiti,”New York Times, 25 May 1992.
15.
15. Elaine Sciolino, “Clinton Says U.S. Will Continue Ban on Haitian Exodus,”New York Times, 15 Jan. 1993.
16.
16. Testimony of Rear Admiral William P. Leahy, Jr., Chief, Office of Law Enforcement and Defense Operations, U.S. Coast Guard, in U.S., Congress, House, Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on International Law, Immigration, and Refugees, Cuban and Haitian Immigration, Hearing, 102d Cong., 1st sess., 20 Nov. 1991, p. 92.
17.
17. Howard W. French, “Flight of Haitians Suddenly Resumes,”New York Times, 16 May 1992.
18.
18. Cf. Stepick, “Unintended Consequences,” pp. 137-140.
19.
19. Excerpts from the opinion appeared in New York Times, 22 June 1993.
20.
20. U.S., Congress, Cuban and Haitian Immigration, p. 107.
21.
21. Gary Lee and Molly Sinclair, “Refugee Policy Protested,”Washington Post, 10 Sept. 1992.
22.
22. See, for example, a front-page color photograph in the latter vein published under the headline “An Uncertain Future for Thousands of Haitians,”Gannett Suburban Newspapers (Westchester County, NY), 4 Feb. 1992.
23.
23. Barry Bearak, “Bedeviled Haitian Boatlift Resumes,”Los Angeles Times, 2 Mar. 1985.
24.
24. Larry Rohter, “Haven for Haitians Backed in Miami,”New York Times, 5 Feb. 1992. Copyright ¢ 1992 by the New York Times Company. Reprinted by permission.
25.
25. Miami Herald, 1 Feb. 1992.
26.
26. See the vote recorded in U.S., Congress, Congressional Record, 27 Feb. 1992, p. H824.
27.
See also Edwin Harwood, “Alienation: American Attitudes toward Immigration,”Public Opinion, pp. 50-51 (June-July 1983).
28.
28. U.S., Congress, Cuban and Haitian Immigration, p. 44.
29.
29. Stepick, “Unwanted Consequences.”
30.
and Rodolfo O. de la Garza, et al., “Attitudes toward U.S. Immigration Policy: The Case of Mexicans, Puerto Ricans and Cubans,”Migration World, 21(2-3):13-16 (1993).
31.
31. Tim Golden, “Mexico, in Switch, Decides to Return Stranded Chinese,”New York Times, 15 July 1993.
32.
32. Thomas L. Friedman, “Clinton Seeks More Powers to Stem Illegal Immigration,”New York Times, 28 July 1993.
33.
33. See the editorial “Denying the American Birthright,”Chicago Tribune, 15 Aug. 1993.
34.
34. “Plan of Action to Combat Anti-Immigrant Backlash” (Memorandum to members, National Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Forum, 8 Aug. 1993).
