Alien Justice: The Exclusion of Haitian Refugees

Although international agreements require states to protect refugees from persecution, frequently national security interests lead them to exclude refugees from justice. The problem is illustrated by the U.S. government's policy of denying asylum to Haitian refugees. By prejudging Haitians to be “economic migrants,” denying them access to fair hearings of their asylum applications, and deporting them to Haiti, U.S. government officials have deprived Haitian refugees of just treatment. These actions appear to have been motivated by national security interests, particularly the U.S. alliance with the Haitian government against communism. The unjust treatment of Haitians, who were the first large nationality group to seek asylum in the United States, has set a pattern that has been applied to other groups of refugees fleeing persecution by governments allied with the United States. Assuring that the United States would fairly adjudicate asylum applications would require institutional separation of the adjudication process from the management of foreign affairs.