Haitians Brought Ashore in U.S. Policy Exception

Haitian refugees, some barefoot and others in their Sunday best, landed Friday with all their worldly belongings stuffed into overnight travel bags, purses and gym bags.

And in an exception to the Clinton Administration’s policy of routinely stopping Haitians at sea, the 414 refugees were brought ashore by members of the Coast Guard, who donned rubber gloves to unload the luggage as a protection against any possible diseases.

Intercepted at sea Thursday aboard an overloaded 65-foot wooden freighter, the Haitians were transferred to a Coast Guard cutter Friday and brought ashore.

Women holding children were among the first passengers turned over to Immigration and Naturalization Service officials.

In Washington, President Clinton reiterated his commitment to a policy to send Haitians stopped at sea back home, but he said an exception was made because of “extraordinary circumstances.”

To support the order allowing the Haitians to enter the country Friday, officials cited crowding on the freighter, its nearness to the Florida coast, reports of abuse on board, a need for medical treatment and suspicions of smuggling.

Under the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966, refugees from that island are allowed to enter the United States by sea because of Fidel Castro’s communist rule.

Haitians caught at sea, however, face forcible return to their homeland under a 1992 George Bush Administration policy. As a candidate, Clinton denounced the policy; he embraced it once in office.

Justice Department spokesman Carl Stern cited a second incident Thursday night as evidence the repatriation policy remains in effect. A Coast Guard cutter intercepted a small boat between Haiti and Cuba and returned the 15 aboard to Haiti, Stern said.

From the packed conditions on the freighter, the new arrivals trudged ashore Friday to stand packed under the tents during a thundershower while awaiting processing.

The group included 271 men, 112 women and 17 children, the Justice Department said.