DOCSLIB.ORG

Construction and the Politics of Dictatorship in Haiti (1957-1986)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Construction and the Politics of Dictatorship in Haiti (1957-1986) The City and the State: Construction and the Politics of Dictatorship in Haiti (1957-1986) by Claire Antone Payton Department of History Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Laurent Dubois, Supervisor ___________________________ DeBorah Jenson ___________________________ Joshua Nadel ___________________________ Jocelyn Olcott ___________________________ Charles Piot Dissertation suBmitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History in the Graduate School of Duke University 2018 ABSTRACT The City and the State: Construction and the Politics of Dictatorship in Haiti (1957-1986) by Claire Antone Payton Department of History Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Laurent Dubois, Supervisor ___________________________ Deborah Jenson ___________________________ Joshua Nadel ___________________________ Jocelyn Olcott ___________________________ Charles Piot An aBstract of a dissertation suBmitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History in the Graduate School of Duke University 2018 Copyright By Claire Antone Payton 2018 Abstract “The City and the State: Construction and the Politics of Dictatorship in Haiti (1957-1986)” charts a neW history of place-making in the CariBBean. It analyZes construction practices in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince—ranging from slum clearance, transportation infrastructure, to the political economy of cement—to reveal the multifaceted relationship Between the Duvalier dictatorship and rapid urBan transformation in the mid-20th century. It argues that through the patterns and practices of Building Port-au-Prince, the social, political and economic dimensions of the Duvalier regime became embedded in material space of the city. At the same time, the nature of these spatial and material changes informed the regime’s tumultuous internal dynamics. This thesis also situates these intertWined themes Within a broader context of uneven geographies of poWer produced through the country’s long transition from slavery to freedom. iv Dedication To Tony Payton, anba dlo v Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv List of TaBles ................................................................................................................................. ix List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ x AcknoWledgements ..................................................................................................................... xi Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 1. “Judging Their Locality”: The Haitian City and Legal Landscapes of PoWer ............... 23 The Rural Codes ................................................................................................................... 28 Rural Codes as a FrameWork for NeW Oppression ......................................................... 39 Communes and the CentraliZation of PoWer ................................................................... 46 The State in the City ............................................................................................................. 52 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 60 2. "Wart on the Face of the Capital”: Slum Clearance, Displacement, and Political Consolidation ............................................................................................................................... 63 The symBolic Burden of Port-au-Prince ............................................................................ 69 La Saline and LoW-Income NeighBorhoods ..................................................................... 74 Early Slum Clearance and UrBan Planning ...................................................................... 80 The Election of 1957 ............................................................................................................. 83 The WeaponiZation of UrBan Planning ............................................................................. 92 The Haitian American Meat and Provision Company ................................................. 106 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 118 3. “Men jet-la!”: François Duvalier International Airport as a Cold War Crossroads ..... 122 vi Building Runways in Port-au-Prince ............................................................................... 126 The First Inauguration of Construction .......................................................................... 133 The Runway as a Cold War Lynchpin ............................................................................ 136 The Dirksen Amendment .................................................................................................. 145 The 1962 OAS meeting at Punte del Este ........................................................................ 150 Conflicting U.S. Positions .................................................................................................. 157 The Cuban Missile Crisis ................................................................................................... 163 Breaking Ground on the Airport ...................................................................................... 172 Inauguration of François Duvalier Airport .................................................................... 177 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 181 4. “And We Will Be Devoured”: UrBanization and the Consumption of Resources ....... 186 AlBert Mangonès and UrBan Marronage ........................................................................ 187 The 1976 Port-au-Prince UrBan Master Plan .................................................................. 193 The Construction Boom ..................................................................................................... 203 Factors Motivating the Boom ............................................................................................ 208 Pétionville and Delmas ...................................................................................................... 211 Environmental Issues: Erosion and Water Supply ........................................................ 217 The Flood ............................................................................................................................. 222 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 227 5. “The Price of PoWer”: UrBanization and Infrastructures of Corruption ...................... 231 The Régie du TaBac et Allumettes ................................................................................... 233 Ciment d’Haiti .................................................................................................................... 241 vii LiBeraliZation and Compromise ....................................................................................... 247 A NeW Image for the Regime ........................................................................................... 255 NationaliZation of Ciment d’Haiti ................................................................................... 263 Infrastructures of Corruption in Transition .................................................................... 267 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 277 6. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 280 Appendix A: Archives Consulted .......................................................................................... 287 Appendix B: 1965-1987 Map of Key Sites in Port-au-Prince ............................................... 289 BiBliography .............................................................................................................................. 291 Biography ................................................................................................................................... 300 viii List of Tables TaBle 1: Characteristics of Socioeconomic Groups, 1976 ..................................................... 201 TaBle 2: Consumption of Resources By Socioeconomic Group, 1976 ................................ 201 TaBle 3: Cement Production and Taxes Collected By the Régie ......................................... 240 ix List of Figures Figure 1: DoWntoWn Port-au-Prince on OpenStreetMaps (2018) .......................................... 6 Figure 2: 1800 map shoWing the city’s defenses and Ft. National. ...................................... 24 Figure 3: Map shoWing administrative boundaries from department to rural section .... 27 Figure 4 Croix-des-Bossales vendors, 1930s ...........................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Overview of the 2010 Haiti Earthquake
    Overview of the 2010 Haiti Earthquake a) b) Reginald DesRoches, M.EERI, Mary Comerio, M.EERI, c) d) Marc Eberhard, M.EERI, Walter Mooney, M.EERI, a) and Glenn J. Rix, M.EERI The 12 January 2010 Mw 7.0 earthquake in the Republic of Haiti caused an estimated 300,000 deaths, displaced more than a million people, and damaged nearly half of all structures in the epicentral area. We provide an overview of the historical, seismological, geotechnical, structural, lifeline-related, and socioeco- nomic factors that contributed to the catastrophe. We also describe some of the many challenges that must be overcome to enable Haiti to recover from this event. Detailed analyses of these issues are presented in other papers in this volume. [DOI: 10.1193/1.3630129] INTRODUCTION On 12 January 2010, at 4:53 p.m. local time, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the Republic of Haiti, with an epicenter located approximately 25 km south and west of the cap- ital city of Port-au-Prince. Near the epicenter of the earthquake, in the city of Le´ogaˆne, it is estimated that 80%–90% of the buildings were critically damaged or destroyed. The metro- politan Port-au-Prince region, which includes the cities of Carrefour, Pe´tion-Ville, Delmas, Tabarre, Cite Soleil, and Kenscoff, was also severely affected. According to the Govern- ment of Haiti, the earthquake left more than 316,000 dead or missing, 300,0001 injured, and over 1.3 million homeless (GOH 2010). According to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) the earthquake was the most destructive event any country has experienced in modern times when measured in terms of the number of people killed as a percentage of the country’s population (Cavallo et al.
    [Show full text]
  • Focus on Haiti
    FOCUS ON HAITI CUBA 74o 73o 72o ÎLE DE LA TORTUE Palmiste ATLANTIC OCEAN 20o Canal de la Tortue 20o HAITI Pointe Jean-Rabel Port-de-Paix St. Louis de Nord International boundary Jean-Rabel Anse-à-Foleur Le Borgne Departmental boundary Monte Cap Saint-Nicolas Môle St.-Nicolas National capital Bassin-Bleu Baie de Criste NORD - OUEST Port-Margot Cap-Haïtien Mancenille Departmental seat Plaine Quartier Limbé du Nord Caracol Fort- Town, village Cap-à-Foux Bombardopolis Morin Liberté Baie de Henne Gros-Morne Pilate Acul Phaëton Main road Anse-Rouge du Nord Limonade Baie Plaisance Milot Trou-du-Nord Secondary road de Grande Terre-Neuve NORD Ferrier Dajabón Henne Pointe Grande Rivière du Nord Sainte Airport Suzanne Ouanaminthe Marmelade Dondon Perches Ennery Bahon NORD - EST Gonaïves Vallières 0 10 20 30 40 km Baie de Ranquitte la Tortue ARTIBONITE Saint- Raphaël Mont-Organisé 0 5 10 15 20 25 mi Pointe de la Grande-Pierre Saint Michel Baie de de l'Attalaye Pignon La Victoire Golfe de la Gonâve Grand-Pierre Cerca Carvajal Grande-Saline Dessalines Cerca-la-Source Petite-Rivière- Maïssade de-l'Artibonite Hinche Saint-Marc Thomassique Verrettes HAITI CENTRE Thomonde 19o Canal de 19o Saint-Marc DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Pointe Pointe de La Chapelle Ouest Montrouis Belladère Magasin Lac de ÎLE DE Mirebalais Péligre LA GONÂVE Lascahobas Pointe-à-Raquette Arcahaie Saut-d'Eau Baptiste Duvalierville Savenette Abricots Pointe Cornillon Jérémie ÎLES CAYÉMITES Fantasque Trou PRESQU'ÎLE Thomazeau PORT- É Bonbon DES BARADÈRES Canal de ta AU- Croix des ng Moron S Dame-Marie la Gonâve a Roseaux PRINCE Bouquets u Corail Gressier m Chambellan Petit Trou de Nippes â Pestel tr Carrefour Ganthier e Source Chaude Baradères Anse-à-Veau Pétion-Ville Anse d'Hainault Léogâne Fond Parisien Jimani GRANDE - ANSE NIPPES Petite Rivières Kenscoff de Nippes Miragoâne Petit-Goâve Les Irois Grand-Goâve OUEST Fonds-Verrettes L'Asile Trouin La Cahouane Maniche Camp-Perrin St.
    [Show full text]
  • Freedom As Marronage
    Freedom as Marronage Freedom as Marronage NEIL ROBERTS The University of Chicago Press Chicago and London Neil Roberts is associate professor of Africana studies and a faculty affiliate in political science at Williams College. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 2015 by The University of Chicago All rights reserved. Published 2015. Printed in the United States of America 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 1 2 3 4 5 ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 12746- 0 (cloth) ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 20104- 7 (paper) ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 20118- 4 (e- book) DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226201184.001.0001 Jacket illustration: LeRoy Clarke, A Prophetic Flaming Forest, oil on canvas, 2003. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Roberts, Neil, 1976– author. Freedom as marronage / Neil Roberts. pages ; cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978- 0- 226- 12746- 0 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978- 0- 226- 20104- 7 (pbk : alk. paper) — ISBN 978- 0- 226- 20118- 4 (e- book) 1. Maroons. 2. Fugitive slaves—Caribbean Area. 3. Liberty. I. Title. F2191.B55R62 2015 323.1196'0729—dc23 2014020609 o This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48– 1992 (Permanence of Paper). For Karima and Kofi Time would pass, old empires would fall and new ones take their place, the relations of countries and the relations of classes had to change, before I discovered that it is not quality of goods and utility which matter, but movement; not where you are or what you have, but where you have come from, where you are going and the rate at which you are getting there.
    [Show full text]
  • Evaluation of DCA Guarantees to MCC and SOGESOL
    EVALUATION OF DCA GUARANTEES TO MICRO-CREDIT CAPITAL AND SOGESOL, HAITI DCAFINALREPORT Haiti Evaluation – AUGUST 2013 i EVALUATION OF DCA GUARANTEES TO MICRO-CREDIT CAPITAL AND SOGESOL, HAITI FINAL REPORT – AUGUST 2013 Cover image: Small loans help women entrepreneurs in Haiti. Madame Fanfan was able to purchase a stall in a prime location in a Haitian market thanks to receiving a loan and has diversified her wares beyond rice to include flour, coffee, oil and other products. She has also opened a small restaurant and plans to open an even bigger restaurant to serve the visitors who come to her community since a new airport was built nearby. Photo: USAID DISCLAIMER This publication was produced for review by the U.S. Agency for International Development. The author’s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Agency for International Development or the U.S. Government. CONTENTS CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................................................................ i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................................. iii ACRONYMS ...................................................................................................................................................................... iv EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Haiti Page 1 of 20
    Haiti Page 1 of 20 Haiti Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2001 Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor March 4, 2002 Haiti is a republic with an elected president and a bicameral legislature. The 1987 Constitution remains in force, but many of its provisions are not respected in practice. The political impasse and political violence stemming from controversial results of May 2000 legislative and local elections continued during the year. In May 2000, the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) manipulated the results of the election to ensure that Fanmi Lavalas (FL) maintained control of the Senate. The opposition parties boycotted July 2000 runoff elections and the November 2000 presidential elections, in which Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected with extremely low voter turnout. President Aristide was sworn in on February 7. During the first half of the year, the international community, including the Organization of American States (OAS), and the country's civil society mediated discussions between the FL and the opposition Democratic Convergence; however, negotiations were not successful and talks were suspended in July following armed attacks on several police stations by unidentified gunmen. On December 17, an unknown number of unidentified gunmen attacked the National Palace in Port- au-Prince; 8 persons reportedly died and 15 persons were injured. Following the attack, progovernment groups attacked opposition members' offices and homes; one opposition member was killed. The 1987 Constitution provides for an independent judiciary; however, it is not independent in practice and remained largely weak and corrupt, as well as subject to interference by the executive and legislative branches.
    [Show full text]
  • Re-Imagining Haiti's National Palace
    Research Design Competition Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights shows that adequate, dignified buildings and housing are fundamental to our human rights. Symbolic Power, History and Humanitarian Crisis: Re-Imagining Haiti’s National Palace Site: Palais National (National Palace), Port-au-Prince, Haiti Introduction: The National Palace in Haiti has shaped and been shaped by the course of the geopolitical history of the modern world. After suffering major damage in the 2010 earthquake, the building has lain in ruins in Port-au-Prince. As a poignant reminder of the neo-colonial impact on the Caribbean before the disaster, the building’s current state stands as a metaphor for the country’s crippled political system and tumultuous history. However, it remains unclear whether the presidential palace will be reconstructed, demolished, or replaced. The complex relationship between its historical influences, the current political climate and presence of international actors will be explored in this research design competition. History: The site has a tumultuous and violent history that begins long before the 2010 disaster. Serving as the Haitian rulers’ residence since the 18th century, the site has seen several forms of rule, from colonial to imperial, dictatorship, and finally democracy. Initially the Government Palace, it was visited by Simon Bolivar seeking troops for his South American campaign. In 1850, renamed the Imperial Palace it was destroyed in 1869 by a rebel army bombardment which ignited a store of munitions and gunpowder held by the president. A replacement was built in 1881, which was then destroyed by a bomb blast in 1912, ending the rule of President Cincinnatus Leconte.
    [Show full text]
  • Building Damage Assessment Report
    Building Damage Assessment Report Haiti earthquake 12 January 2010 Post Disaster Needs Assessment and Recovery Framework (PDNA) Produced by European Commission (EC) Joint Research Centre (JRC) and United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT) and World Bank Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and Centre National d’Information Géo-Spatial (CNIGS) Version 3.0 as of 11 March 2010 Revision record Version Date Revision 0.1 March 4, 2010 First draft, accompanying first damage assessment figures for classes 4 and 5; 1.0 March 8, 2010 Second draft, for partners’comments; 2.0 March 10, 2010 Final. accompanying completed damage assessment figures for classes 4 and 5; 3.0 March 11, 2010 This version. Some correction, formatting and addition of (new) Table 5 total floor space Distribution record Version Date Distributed to 0.1 March 4, 2010 Damage assessment team, Roberto Jovel, members of the PDNA team (infrastructure sector) 1.0 March 8, 2010 Damage assessment team 2.0 March 10, 2010 Damage assessment team; Roberto Jovel, members of the PDNA team (infrastructure sector), European Commission (RELEX) 3.0 March 11, 2010 Idem Contents Revision record ............................................................................................................................................. 2 Distribution record ........................................................................................................................................ 2 Contents .......................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Haitian Creole – English Dictionary
    + + Haitian Creole – English Dictionary with Basic English – Haitian Creole Appendix Jean Targète and Raphael G. Urciolo + + + + Haitian Creole – English Dictionary with Basic English – Haitian Creole Appendix Jean Targète and Raphael G. Urciolo dp Dunwoody Press Kensington, Maryland, U.S.A. + + + + Haitian Creole – English Dictionary Copyright ©1993 by Jean Targète and Raphael G. Urciolo All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the Authors. All inquiries should be directed to: Dunwoody Press, P.O. Box 400, Kensington, MD, 20895 U.S.A. ISBN: 0-931745-75-6 Library of Congress Catalog Number: 93-71725 Compiled, edited, printed and bound in the United States of America Second Printing + + Introduction A variety of glossaries of Haitian Creole have been published either as appendices to descriptions of Haitian Creole or as booklets. As far as full- fledged Haitian Creole-English dictionaries are concerned, only one has been published and it is now more than ten years old. It is the compilers’ hope that this new dictionary will go a long way toward filling the vacuum existing in modern Creole lexicography. Innovations The following new features have been incorporated in this Haitian Creole- English dictionary. 1. The definite article that usually accompanies a noun is indicated. We urge the user to take note of the definite article singular ( a, la, an or lan ) which is shown for each noun. Lan has one variant: nan.
    [Show full text]
  • Service Barriers
    7 Service Barriers Approximately 14 percent of Americans are employed in tradable business ser- vice fi rms; manufacturing fi rms, by comparison, employ only 10 percent of the total US workforce (Jensen 2011).1 In 2007 business service sector jobs paid an average salary of $56,000, some $10,000 more than the average salary in manu- facturing. But largely because of high nontariff barriers (NTBs), only 5 percent of US business service fi rms engage in exporting, compared to 25 percent of US manufacturing plants (Jensen 2011). US manufacturing fi rms export approxi- mately 20 percent of their annual output, but US business service fi rms export only 4 percent. That said, in 2013, US service exports amounted to $681 billion, and the US service trade surplus was approximately $229 billion.2 In short, the United States has a latent, but strong, comparative advantage in exporting busi- ness services.3 1. Sherry M. Stephenson made a major contribution to this chapter. Stephenson is a senior fellow at the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) in Geneva and a senior advisor for services trade at the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington. 2. Moreover, offi cial statistics often undercount the direct service exports that they purport to measure, such as McKinsey consulting services for foreign clients. Offi cial statistics can be found at US Bureau of Economic Statistics. See US Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, “International Economic Accounts,” www.bea.gov (accessed on May 29, 2014). 3. Of course many services—haircuts, taxi rides, restaurant meals—remain nontradable, in the sense of cross-border supply, because consumption and production must be performed at the same place and at the same time.
    [Show full text]
  • Haiti's Troubles: Perspectives from the Theology of Work and from Liberation Theology
    Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Dissertations (2 year embargo) 5-25-2011 Haiti's Troubles: Perspectives From the Theology of Work and From Liberation Theology Lys Stéphane Florival Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss_2yr Part of the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Florival, Lys Stéphane, "Haiti's Troubles: Perspectives From the Theology of Work and From Liberation Theology" (2011). Dissertations (2 year embargo). 5. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss_2yr/5 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations (2 year embargo) by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 2011 Lys Stéphane Florival LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO HAITI‘S TROUBLES: PERSPECTIVES FROM THE THEOLOGY OF WORK AND FROM LIBERATION THEOLOGY A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY PROGRAM IN THEOLOGY BY LYS S. FLORIVAL CHICAGO, ILLINOIS MAY 2011 Copyright by Lys S. Florival, 2011 All rights reserved. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This opus has taken form and finally achieved completion through the contributions of so many people that mentioning all would require several pages. Most of them would nevertheless feel happy to be thanked in person. To all of those persons the author wishes to express his sincere gratitude. There are a few people, however, whose invaluable service ought to be acknowledged.
    [Show full text]
  • Danceafrica 2003
    BAM 2003 Spring Brooklyn Academy of Music Alan H. Fishman William I. Campbell Chairman of the Board Vice Chairman of the Board Karen Brooks Hopkins Joseph V. Melillo President Executive Producer presents DanceAfrica 2003 Approximate Rhythmic Rites and Rituals: running time: Connecting Cultural Borders 2 hours 30 BAM Howard Gilman Opera House minutes with May 23 & 24 at 7:30pm; May 24 at 2pm; May 25 at 3pm one intermission Artistic director Chuck Davis Lighting design William H. Grant III Kulu Mele African American Dance Ensemble (Philadelphia) Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago Resurrection Dance Theater of Haiti and BAM/Restoration DanceAfrica Ensemble Stage manager N'Goma Woolbright Assistant stage manager Normadien Woolbright Production stage manager Janet D. Clancy BAM 2003 Spring Season is sponsored by Altria Group, Inc. Major support for DanceAfrica 2003 is provided by AT&T and Morgan Stanley. Additional support is provided by Con Edison and KeySpan Foundation. BAM Dance is supported by The Harkness Foundation for Dance. BAM thanks Theatre Development Fund for its support of this season. ~l PrOQram Rhythmic Rites and Rituals: Connecting Cultural Borders (Note: A Libation Ceremony in front of BAM precedes the May 23 opening night performance.) Processional The audience members are asked to remain seated to acknowledge the presence of the elders whose collective knowledge guides us into the future. The dressing of the first two seats honors the Elders who have made the transition to the Ancestral Grounds: Baba Walter P Brown, Papa Scuddie McGee, Mama Sarah McGee, and Baba M.B. Olatunji. Jalibah Baba Chuck Davis extends the traditional greetings and welcomes all to the Bantaba (dancing ground).
    [Show full text]
  • Interdiction of Haitian Migrants on the High Seas: a Legal and Policy Analysis
    Interdiction of Haitian Migrants on the High Seas: A Legal and Policy Analysis Claire P. Gutekunstt In September 1981 President Reagan announced a policy of interdic- tion of undocumented migrants on the high seas. The interdiction pro- gram involves boarding vessels suspected of carrying illegal migrants, questioning those aboard, and returning to their home country all per- sons determined to lack valid entry documents or colorable claims to refugee status. To date, the Reagan Administration has implemented the program only with respect to Haitian migrants, although the policy as announced was not limited to Haitians. Interdiction underscores a basic ambiguity in the definition of a refu- gee in domestic and international law. The ambiguity centers on the point at which an individual, leaving one country and attempting to enter another, attains refugee status with its attendant protections. The an- nounced interdiction policy is based on the premise that whatever rights people might have to leave their country, admission to another country is not a right, but a privilege, which may be granted or denied by national governments. This premise does not acknowledge the tension existing between national sovereign rights and international principles governing asylum, and thus the legal status of the interdiction policy is uncertain. Because the United States is a leader in the development of interna- tional law, and because it so frequently is the intended destination of migrants, its policies and actions concerning immigration and refugees can have impact far beyond individual cases and strictly national con- cerns. They may affect the immigration policies of many other states and, ultimately, the international treatment of refugees.
    [Show full text]