Floating Berlin Wall

The White House defends sending Haitian boat people back home

LAST MAY CANDIDATE CLINTON WAS "APPALLED" BY George Bush's decision to force every boatload of fleeing Haitians back to the thugs in charge of their country, without checking to see if anyone on board qualified for political ( asylum under a treaty the U.S. signed. But President Clinton now backs forcible return, and a government lawyer (a Bush holdover) vigorously argued for it last week before the Supreme Court. This broken promise has infuriated black leaders and human-rights lawyers. But Clinton fears that an armada of poor blacks will wash up on Florida.

The Administration will boost refugee screening inside Haiti,...

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