Refugee-Policy

Mariel Boatlift Exposes Racist Double Standards as Cubans Welcomed While Haitians Detained

1980-04-21 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 7/10

Between April and October 1980, approximately 125,000 Cubans flee to the United States in the Mariel Boatlift after Fidel Castro opens the port of Mariel to emigration. Simultaneously, thousands of Haitians fleeing the brutal Duvalier dictatorship arrive in Florida by boat, creating a natural …

Jimmy Carter Fidel Castro Cuban refugees Haitian refugees Immigration and Naturalization Service +1 more immigration refugee-policy racism detention cold-war +1 more

Refugee Act of 1980 Establishes Systematic Asylum Process, Becomes Target of Enforcement Capture

1980-03-17 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 8/10

President Jimmy Carter signs the Refugee Act of 1980, the first comprehensive reform of U.S. refugee policy since the Displaced Persons Act of 1948. The legislation adopts the United Nations definition of refugee as anyone with a “well-founded fear of persecution” based on race, …

Jimmy Carter Edward Kennedy U.S. Congress United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Department of State immigration refugee-policy asylum cold-war institutional-capture