Sale v. Haitian Centers Council
Supreme Court
509 U.S. 155 (1993)
After a 1991 military coup in Haiti triggered a massive wave of Haitians fleeing by boat, overwhelming the Coast Guard's screening capacity, President Bush ordered all intercepted Haitians repatriated without the refugee-status screening that an earlier 1981 U.S.-Haiti agreement had promised. Haitian detainees and advocacy groups (plaintiffs) sued Sale, the INS Commissioner (defendant), arguing the policy violated § 243(h) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (the Act) and Article 33 of the U.N. Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, both of which bar returning refugees to danger. The district court denied an injunction, reasoning § 243(h) doesn't apply in international waters; the Second Circuit reversed, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari to resolve a circuit split.
Whether the interception and repatriation of undocumented aliens travelling illegally on boats outside the territory of the United States, without determination of whether those aliens qualify as refugees, violates § 243(h) of the Immigration and Nationality Act or Article 33 of the United Nations Protocol.