Reagan Orders Coast Guard Interdiction of Haitian Refugees, Establishing Maritime Asylum Denial

President Ronald Reagan issues Executive Order 12324, authorizing the U.S. Coast Guard to interdict vessels carrying undocumented migrants in international waters and return passengers to their country of origin without asylum screening. Though framed neutrally, the order specifically targets Haitian refugees fleeing the Duvalier dictatorship, establishing maritime interdiction as a mechanism to prevent asylum seekers from reaching U.S. soil where they would have legal rights to hearings. The program operates under an agreement with Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier’s regime, which promises not to prosecute returned refugees despite documented human rights abuses including torture and extrajudicial killing.

Between 1981 and 1990, the Coast Guard interdicts over 23,000 Haitians, with only 28 (0.12%) found to have legitimate asylum claims and allowed to proceed to the United States. These near-total denial rates compare starkly to asylum approval rates for applicants from Communist countries during the same period, exposing the program as a mechanism for racial exclusion rather than legitimate immigration enforcement. Critics note that Cubans continue receiving automatic refugee status under the “wet foot, dry foot” policy while Black Haitians face summary return regardless of their persecution claims.

The interdiction program establishes precedents with lasting consequences for asylum law. By preventing refugees from reaching U.S. territory, the government circumvents domestic legal protections and international treaty obligations. In Sale v. Haitian Centers Council (1993), the Supreme Court upholds the practice, ruling that the non-refoulement provision of the Refugee Convention does not apply to actions taken outside U.S. territory. This decision enables subsequent administrations to expand interdiction, deterrence, and externalization strategies that prevent asylum seekers from accessing legal protections. The Haitian interdiction program demonstrates how enforcement mechanisms can effectively nullify statutory refugee protections through geographic manipulation, a template subsequently applied to Central American asylum seekers through “Remain in Mexico” and other deterrence policies.