Speech #1020169426

President. today I join with other Senators and Members of the House in introducing legislation to reverse President Bushs Executive order on Haiti. Two weeks ago. with a cruel. callous. and capricious stroke of his pen. President Bush signed an Executive order that reversed decades of American leadership in providing sanctuary for refugees fleeing political persecution. By ordering the Coast Guard to return all Haitians directly to Haiti. without even pausing to question whether they qualify for refugee status. the administration has washed its hands of the fate of all refugees in all lands. This hypocrisy of the Bush administration is shocking. Two years ago. the administration sharply criticized Great Britain for doing the same thingforcibly returning Vietnamese refugees from Hong Kong to Vietnam. Whether it is a Bosnian in the Balkans. an Ethiopian in Kenya. a Burmese in Bangladesh. or a Vietnamese in Hong Kong. the Bush administrations action means that the example of the United States will be cited whenever other nations decide to slam their own doors on refugees and force them back into the hands of their oppressors. The legislation we are introducing is intended to reverse President Bushs Executive order and make clear that. in accord with international law. political refugees fleeing persecution should not be forcibly returned to the countries they have fled. The legislation does not dictate the procedures which the administration should follow to comply with this obligation. However. we would clearly expect that careful screening by trained INS asylum officers would be necessary to insure that legitimate refugees are not returned involuntarily. In addition. I hope that the administration will permit Haitians to be represented by counsel as they apply for asylum. and that it will grant temporary protected status to Haitians until the violence and political crisis in Haiti subside. It is regrettable that this legislation is even necessary. In my view. the obligations of the United States under international law are clear. Article 33 of the 1951 U.N. Convention relating to the status of refugees states that no country "shall expel or return a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race. religion. nationality. membership of a particular social group or political opinion." The administration now claims that this obligation does not apply to U.S. ships that rescue refugees on the high seas. Perhaps the Supreme Court will accept that shameful attempt to evade our legal responsibility. Perhaps not. In any event. our legislation settles this legal dispute by writing clearly into our immigration laws that the United States cannot return persecuted refugees. regardless of where they come into U.S. custody. Since the coup in Haiti 8 months ago. the Bush administration itself has found that over 30 percent of the refugees picked up by the Coast Guard have sufficiently strong claims for political asylum to merit additional processing in the United States. Yet. in a panicked overreaction to the continuing flow of boat people. the administration has suddenly decided to return all Haitiansregardless of the merit of their claims of persecution. Clear alternatives were available. The number of refugees at Guantanamo could have been reduced by streamlining and expediting the screening process. thousands of Haitians have been kept waiting for weeks to have their asylum claims reviewed. Voluntary agencies and others could have been enlisted to help applicants complete their asylum applications. And with an investment of $6-$7 million. the facilities in Guantanamo could have been strengthened to withstand the summer heat and any possible threat from the upcoming hurricane season. Of the 17 million refugees around the world. most are now surviving in Third World countries that have generously received them. but can barely sustain the burden. The United States itself will admit 140.000 refugees this year from other parts of the world. and there is no justification for the exclusion of Haitians. The Haitian boat people deserve equal justice with other refugees. The Bush administrations misguided policy must be reversed.