Making a Path for the Return of Immigrant Detention, 1973–1980

Chapter 1 examines the U.S. government’s response to the Haitian “boat people” from 1973 to 1980, finding that the government immediately met them with a policy of denial of asylum, implementing a set of practices, including detention, meant to deter Haitians from seeking asylum on American shores. This first chapter also chronicles the earliest resistance to detention by detained refugees and their allies and the advocacy campaign for Haitian refugees that developed in the 1970s that included political mobilization and legal resistance. The most notable achievement of the resistance came in the landmark case Haitian Refugee v. Civiletti, striking a lethal blow to the government’s Haitian Program which involved the detention and expedited removal of Haitians. Despite this victory for the refugees, the government’s efforts to exclude and deter Haitian asylum seekers during the 1970s cleared the way for the return of immigrant detention in the following years.