Haitian Refugees and the U.S. Asylum System

Political violence is on the rise in Haiti, and it is not surprising that those in danger feel the need to flee. The United States is obliged, under international law, not to return people to a country where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their political opinions. Yet U.S. detention and interdiction policies toward Haitian refugees are harsh and increasingly discriminatory.

Under U.S. procedures, migrants who are interdicted on boats are not given access to lawyers and are not all screened to make sure that they are not refugees who are in danger of persecution if returned. While Cuban migrants are read a statement in Spanish notifying them that they may come forward and speak with a U.S. representative if they have any concerns and Chinese migrants are provided with a written questionnaire, Haitian and other migrants are not provided with any indication, written or oral, that they can express their fears about being returned. Even if a Haitian asylum seeker should voice a fear of persecution, the U.S. government does not require that translators be present on every interdicted boat so their fears may never be heard.

Since the arrival of a boat of Haitian asylum seekers off the coast of Florida in December 2001, and the arrival of a second boat in October 2002, the U.S. government has initiated a series of concerted steps that have subjected Haitians to blanket detention, have attempted to deprive them of any meaningful individualized assessment of their release, and subjected them to unfair expedited procedures. These steps include:

• The initial blanket detention policy directed at Haitian asylum seekers.
• The invocation of expanded post 9/11 detention authority in an attempt to prevent the release of Haitian asylum seekers who were found to be eligible for release by immigration judges.
• The expansion of expedited removal to sea arrivals - which had the effect of subjecting future Haitian asylum seekers to unfair summary procedures as well as depriving them of the right to have an immigration judge assess their eligibility for release.
• The expedited scheduling of Haitian asylum cases -- so quickly that many were not able to find legal representations.
• The issuance of a sweeping decision by the Attorney General which will have the effect of depriving Haitan asylum seekers of an individualized assessment of the need for their continued detention.

On April 17, 2025 Attorney General Ashcroft issued a sweeping precedent-setting decision which will result in the indefinite detention of Haitian and other asylum seekers who request refuge the United States. The decision paints Haitian refugees arriving by boat and seeking safety from persecution as threats to national security. As a result of the Attorney General’s decision, Haitian men, women and children - who have no intent to harm the United States - will be detained in jails or other facilities for months or years without being given a meaningful chance to demonstrate that their detention is unnecessary.

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