Summary

Speeches by members of Congress in late 1991 reflected the growing concern for unrestricted immigration due to political turmoil, with focus on the Aristide coup in Haiti, and the eventual sequestering at Guantanamo of those seeking asylum.

Introduction

     The process of sequestering undocumented civilians at the naval base on the southeastern shore of Cuba began in earnest in late 1991. Other records indicate earlier efforts were made, but this particular episode begins, at least for Congress in late 1991, in November, when Major Owens, New York Democrat representing the 12th district at the time, gave an introduction for a speech by Donald M. Payne Sr., New Jersey Democrat from the 10th district. on the floor of the House on 21 November 1991, as preserved in the Congressional Record. (GPO-CRECB-1991-pt23-1-1.pdf, 33418-33420)

     The speech focus was on Haiti, at the time the origin of many of the refugees being chased from the country by the coup that overthrew Aristide.

Rep. Major Owens [D-NY11, 1993-2006], former Representative for New York’s 11th Congressional District – GovTrack.us

(Image credit: Rep. Payne, center: Donald Payne, Jr. was just fifth person to hold NJ-10 seat in over 100 years – New Jersey Globe)

     “Payne was extraordinarily popular in Washington and at home, and never faced a tough race.  In 1988, he received 81% against Irvington’s Berkeley, who had taken on Rodino in 1984, and took 81% against Berkeley, a retired postal worker, in 1990.”

     Notes: Rep. Owens concluded with background on Aristide and the coup that followed him.

Capsule

Background on the Aristide coup has been provided by a search query entered into artificial intelligence.

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military coup haiti 1991

     The 1991 Haitian coup d’état occurred on September 29, 1991, when the Armed Forces of Haiti, led by Army General Raoul Cédras, Army Chief of Staff Philippe Biamby, and Chief of the National Police Michel François, overthrew President Jean-Bertrand Aristide12. Aristide, Haiti’s first democratically elected president, had been in office for only eight months after winning the 1990-91 Haitian general election14.The coup was brief but violent. On the night of September 28, some army bases and police stations mutinied. At daybreak on September 29, soldiers fired on Aristide’s residence and captured him at the National Palace1. Aristide was forced into exile, with his life saved only through the intervention of U.S., French, and Venezuelan diplomats12.

https://www.perplexity.ai/search/military-coup-haiti-1991-l5bfaE.2TECQA9DTEi8N4A

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     Notes: This coup set into motion the necessity for the US government to interdict and intercept refugees on rickety boats attempting to cross the straits into Florida, where they were initially harbored aboard US Coast Guard vessels before being dropped of onshore at the camps set up at Guantanamo.

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Reps. Owens/Payne Speeches

The House met at 12 noon. DESIGNATION OF SPEAKER PRO TEMPO RE The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. NATCHER) laid before the House the following communication from the Speaker: WASHINGTON, DC, November 21, 1991. I hereby designate the Honorable WILLIAM H. NATCHER to act as Speaker pro tempore on this day. THOMAS S. FOLEY, Speaker, House of Representatives. 

The SPEAKER Pro Tempore

Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from New York [Mr. OWENS] is recognized for 60 minutes. 

Mr. OWENS of New York. 

     Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin with good news. The United States Coast Guard today transferred more than 1,400 Haitian refugees from Coast Guard cutters to the area around the United States Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to enable the Coast Guard cutters to continue rescue operations. 

     The State Department announced that 858 Haitians were transferred to the Navy vessel Tortuga in Guantanamo Bay, and 572 were being sent out to the base itself.      

     That leaves 380 Haitians still on cutters. This is good news because it represents a more humane approach to the problem of assisting those Haitians who are so desperate that they are risking their lives to flee the terror of the military government, illegal military government, of Haiti. 

     I think it is good news that our Government has ceased a policy of returning these refugees, political refugees, to Haiti. More than 500 have been returned already, but as a result of a court order, they have stopped returning the refugees and have started behaving like a more human democratic government. 

     We have begun to apply the same standards to the Haitians that we have always applied to refugees seeking to escape terror and persecution. 

     The policy of the United States Government is the primary reason we have the continuing turmoil in Haiti. If only we would support the democratically elected government of President Aristide, we would not have had the problem of having to accommodate thousands of Haitians attempting to flee terror and persecution. If only we had supported the man who was elected by 70 percent of the voters, we would not have a problem. 

     But we do have a problem. I am happy to report that we have begun to deal with that problem in a more hu- mane way. 

     Mr. Speaker, at this point I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. PAYNE] for his comments on the subject. 

     Mr. PAYNE of New Jersey. 

     Mr. Speaker, let me thank the gentleman from New York [Mr. OWENS] for taking a special order tonight to dramatize the plight of people who are attempting to speak out against injustice and attempting to leave a place of persecution but who, as they have left harshness, have been treated the same way in their plight.    

     Mr. Speaker. I speak with a sense of outrage for the action of my Government in’ the treatment of Haitian refugees. For the United States, who in the past had vigorously opposed the involuntary repatriation of Vietnamese boat people by Hong Kong, to now turn our back on our suffering neighbors in Haiti, is truly an embarrassment. 

     I also speak to the American people in the hope that a better understanding of Haiti will bring about a wave of reaction against this inhumane and barbaric act.  

     Haiti is one of the most densely populated countries in the world where 10 percent of the people take home more than 70 percent of the per capita income.   

     These are the same 10 percent who are standing behind the unlawful expulsion of democratically elected President Aristide by the military. 

     Haiti is a country where 40 percent of the children are dead by the age of five. Where 20 million trees are lost each year for fuel consumption, and 10 percent of the topsoil washes into the Caribbean each year. 

     One may ask, “How did Haiti become such a basket case?” Let us look at history. 

     With World War II, the President of Haiti asked our President Roosevelt how his small country could be of assistance in this war for the salvation of mankind. Roosevelt said that the United States had suffered a loss of rubber sources through the Japanese invasion of Southeast Asia. He then asked Haiti to convert its agricultural economy to the production of trees and plants that produce latex. 

     Agreeing to this challenge, the mahogany trees and other forest plants indigenous to the island came down to make way for the Firestone plantations. The experimental plants to produce latex were planted, but were not successful. The Haitian Minister of Agriculture told his President that if this policy did not stop he would be sacrificing the future of his country. The President did not take his advice, and the Minister resigned his position and never served in government again. 

     There were other sacrifices Haiti made for our country. In our Revolutionary War there was a voluntary battalion of 1550 French Haitian volunteers that fought in the battle of Savannah. In that battalion was a black unit called a company of color. 

     One corporal by the name of Henri Christophe helped repel three charges from the British, was finally wounded, and returned to Haiti where he became one of the famous leaders in Haiti’s slave revolt for its own independence. 

     This slave revolt against Napolean’s (1) best regiments also stopped the French strategy for reclaiming their military foothold in the Western Hemisphere and dominating the North American Continent through the Louisiana Territory because they could not reestablish their position in Haiti. 

     Haiti was then a threat to the institution of slavery in the southern part of the United States. 

     Haiti trained and armed Simon Bolivar so he could free South America. This is part of the reason for the compassion of the Organization of American States to help Haiti and offer sanctuary for fleeing refugees in Venezuela, Honduras, Belize, Trinidad, and Tobago. 

     And yet in the face of these offers Mr. Bush’s administration stated that “the absence of a sufficient safe haven option” demands that the United States Coast Guard and Navy return the refugees back to Haiti to head off threats of a mass exodus. 

     What Mr. Bush is really worried about is another exodus similar to the early 1980’s when Haitians were treated in a different manner than Cubans. The Cubans were welcome because they were fleeing a wornout communism, while the Haitians were fleeing for their lives from a murderous dictatorship.

     Cubans received preferential treatment for permanent residence status, while Haitians received Krome Prison in Florida where families were separated. Husbands from wives and brothers from sisters. Males and females were divided like in the early slave days. 

     Now the office of the U .N. High Commissioner for Refugees has found the courage to speak out against this current violation of the Geneva Convention, where refugees with a recognized fear of persecution are being forced to return without even normal due proc- ess guarantees. 

     Where is America’s sense of fairness and compassion? Let us help them in their time of need like they did for us. Have we forgotten what is inscribed on the Statute (2) of Liberty? 

     I quote: 

     Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breath (3)  free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door. 

     Or, do we remember the Willie Horton’s, the David Duke’s, and others who are beginning to symbolize our new domestic order. 

     It is inconceivable to me to think that any career diplomat, or State Department official who has dedicated his or her life in service to others could order such a unhumanitarian action without orders from the White House. 

     Therefore, I call on President George Bush to personally explain this inhuman, racist action to the American people. So far his explanation falls far short of explaining our humanitarian responsibility, or the difference in treatment of people of color. 

     I challenge George Herbert Walker Bush to come to my district and ex- plain his reasoning to the many Haitian groups I have to, or to the black, white, Hispanic, and Asian constituents that have been in touch with my office. 

1900 

     Once again, Mr. Speaker, I am happy that the Government has temporarily reconsidered its policy. But I am giving my statement here tonight because I am hoping that they will not rethink it as they did yesterday, sending out an executive order that appeared in the paper today, but then before noon rescinding it. 

     So in this ball of confusion I am asking that our Government do the right thing, the humane thing. 

     Once again, I appreciate the gentleman from New York taking the time in this special order and for allowing me time to express myself. 

     Mr. OWENS of New York. 

     Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New Jersey, and appreciate very much some very important background information he gave us about the long-term relationship between the United States and Haiti.

     The United States and Haiti have always had a close relationship. Unfortunately, Haiti has usually been the victim in this relationship. No other country is allowed to establish a base of influence in Haiti. We would not allow the French, for example, who speak the same language as most Haitians, to establish a base of influence. Our country has always jealously guarded its prerogative and insisted that Haiti follow certain kinds of lines of development that we set down.      

     What has happened in Haiti over the years has been very much influenced by the government in power in the United States. Nothing really takes place of a significant nature in Haiti that is not, in some way, influenced by what happens here. 

     That includes military coups. When the military, which is trained by the U.S. Government, which is paid for by the U.S. Government, when they decide to stage a coup, they either stage it in complicity with the U.S. Government or because they have received certain signals from the U.S. Government. The present dilemma, the present problem with respect to President Aristide is directly related to the kinds of signals that the State Department and the U.S. spokesmen sent with respect to the Aristide government. Criticisms of Aristide, condemnations of his so- called human rights policy, disapproval of his economic policies, foot-dragging by our Government were all signals that were sent to the Haitian military. They felt they had an opportunity. They moved because they thought they would receive the approval of the U.S. Government. 

     After the military takeover, after the bandits and the thugs with guns had marched through the streets and randomly shot down citizens, after they had forced Aristide out by gunpoint, our Government began to speak with a forked tongue. On the one hand they joined the other countries of the Organization of American States in condemning the military takeover. On the other hand, they criticized Aristide for his human rights record, and they made remarks which indicated that they did not approve of this method of governing. They wanted him to be more conciliatory toward the opposition. 

     Here we have the irony of a President who is elected with a little more than 50 percent of the vote lecturing to a President who was elected with 70 percent of the vote and telling him that he should be more conciliatory toward the opposition, while the same President of the United States has just completed his 24th veto, has just vetoed a 24th bill passed by the Congress of the United States and exults in that victory. Does this seem to be a man who believes in working with the opposition? Twentyfour vetoes. He has never lost a veto since he was elected, and he lectures to the President of Haiti that he should be more conciliatory toward his opposition, and he uses the fact that the President has not been conciliatory toward his opposition as a rationale for not being more forceful in insisting that Aristide be returned to power. 

     That is the wrong signal to send to the military bandits. The thugs with guns feel that they can hold out for- ever as long as the United States is speaking with a forked tongue. 

     Then we have the phenomenon of Haitians who were so desperate, and only very desperate people would brave the elements and brave the waves of the ocean in order to escape in boats that are rickety, very poorly put together, risking their lives, only very desperate people would dare attempt to get to the mainland of the United States in this manner. So obviously they are desperate, obviously they are fleeing political persecution. Yet our Government insists that they are eco- nomic refugees and they are leaving the country only because they want to seek better conditions economically. 

     How do we explain the fact that during the time shortly after the election of President Aristide, the number of people who were interdicted, picked up in boats by the U.S. Coast Guard, went down almost to zero, that despite the economic conditions, despite the fact that nothing had changed for the aver- age Haitian with the election of Aristide except the fact that they had a democratically elected government, and they had hoped for the first time that there would be a new deal for them, and they stopped seeking to es- cape? The military government of Haiti has shot people down in the streets at random because they wanted to make a point. They wanted to cower the population. 

     One person who was killed was a constituent of mine who happened to be in Haiti because he was operating a business that was set up shortly after President Aristide was elected. By accident, misidentification, he was identified wrongly, he was hauled out of his bed, beaten by soldiers and killed on the way supposedly to the hospital. This is just one example. There were 300 cases of such murders admitted by the official news agency in Haiti. We have sources that make it clear that more than 1,000 people have been killed this way. People are forced to leave their houses and sleep in the bushes in order to escape the terror of the soldiers at night. Certain towns have been marked, and soldiers come through in order to cower the population, and just shoot people at random. So there is a reign of terror, and people are seeking to escape that reign of terror, and we have instituted an inhumane policy until recently. 

     As a result of the objections that have been raised on the floor of this House, as a result of hearings held by the gentleman from Kentucky [Mr. MAZZOLI], and as a result of the press finally beginning to expose what was going on, we have good news to report today: a more humane policy has been instituted, and we are happy to hear that. But is is (4) very important that we take another step to guarantee safe haven of all of the Haitian refugees here in this country.  

(End Congressional Record)

     Notes: Typos and spelling errors have been included as printed. The numbers in parentheses represent spelling errors in the text of the Congressional record, either submitted by the speaker, or the printer. Number (4) shows “is” as redundant.

Capsule

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1991, in November, when Major Owens, New York Democrat representing the 12th district at the time,

In November 1991, Major Owens was serving as the U.S. Representative for New York’s 12th congressional district9. During this time, Owens was involved in forming the Majority Coalition for a New New York, a city-wide labor/community coalition initiated by Local 1199 president Dennis Rivera, along with Rep. Jose Serrano and Deputy Mayor Bill Lynch1. This coalition aimed to unite various groups to address the city’s financial crisis in a way that reflected the interests of working people1.Major Owens, known as “The Librarian in Congress,” was a strong advocate for education, libraries, and civil rights throughout his political career79. He had been elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982, succeeding Shirley Chisholm, and would continue to serve until his retirement in 20079

aristide restored to power

Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti’s first democratically elected president, was restored to power on October 15, 1994, after three years in exile8. This restoration came as a result of Operation Uphold Democracy, a U.S.-led intervention that pressured the military regime to step down24.Aristide’s journey to restoration began with his election in 1990, where he won with 67% of the vote1. However, his presidency was short-lived as he was ousted in a military coup on September 30, 1991, just months after taking office26.The international community, led by the United States, responded to the coup with various measures:

1. Sanctions were imposed on Haiti to pressure the military regime5.
2. The Governors Island Accord was signed in July 1993, outlining terms for Aristide’s return57.
3. When the accord failed, the Clinton administration considered various options, including military intervention5.

Finally, on September 19, 1994, U.S. troops intervened to restore Aristide to power6. Under the protection of approximately 20,000 U.S. troops, Aristide returned to Haiti on October 15, 1994, calling for reconciliation and an end to violence18.After his return, Aristide took several significant actions:

1. He disbanded the army on February 6, 1995, replacing it with a civilian police force6.
2. He was unable to run for re-election in 1995 due to constitutional term limits5.
3. He stepped down as president in 1996, marking Haiti’s first-ever transfer of power from one elected president to another4.

Aristide’s restoration, while successful, did not solve Haiti’s deep-rooted problems. He struggled to find effective solutions to the country’s economic issues and social inequalities during his truncated term3

https://www.perplexity.ai/search/aristide-restored-to-power-qKKDhMhXRwefyfa2zCxBYA

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Afterword

     What’s clear from today’s perspective is how US policy over immigration, although it might have been an issue since Ike and followed up by Castro, became a legitimate bone of contention that would not go away no matter what the course. 

     There are, of course, several components that may be addressed, each in its own context, from banana republic dictators and coups, the waves of immigration resulting from those kinds of political upheavals and similar, the decisions by the US government to allow refugees in, to seal off the borders, to send them to Guantanamo, or other means. All of these need to be examined individually in hopes of a method to allow bona fide asylum seekers the opportunity to get a fresh start “Coming to America” as opposed to criminals and other low lifes taking advantage of the system.