A September 1991 coup in Haiti led thousands of Haitians to flee to the United States as refugees, braving horrible conditions in overcrowded ships often rife with disease to escape deteriorating conditions in their home country. The United States, under Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton, turned them away. The refugees were turned away, sent to other countries, or held in crowded camps in Guantanamo Bay.
Civil rights lawyer Hongju Koh took on the United States Department of Justice all the way up to the Supreme Court level on the behalf of these Haitians. The ending words of a speech of his at a dinner held by the Asian Law Conference of San Francisco in his honor:
"As I prepared for the oral argument, I realized that this is a case about We and They. And that the reason the government has been so successful so far is because they've been able to convince all of us that the Haitians are they, not us. Because after all, if the Haitians, those sick people on Guantanamo... are somebody else, then they are not our problem, and after all, don't we have enough problems?
If you've ever been a refugee, or if your parents have ever been refugees, then you're a Haitian. If you've ever been in an internment camp or know anyone who's ever been in an internment camp, then you're a Haitian. If you've ever been discriminated against or know someone who has been discriminated against because they have HIV, then you're a Haitian. If you've ever believed for a second that what it says on the Statue of Liberty is not just words, but as my father said, a sacred promise, then you're a Haitian. If you've ever believed that this is a nation of laws, and not individuals, then you're a Haitian."
--as reported in Yellow, by Frank Wu.
The Yale alumni magazine has a fascinating article about this case, by Brandt Goldstein. Goldstein also wrote this book about the process.
