The State Department said late Friday it would "immediately" begin repatriating Haitian refugees in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court clearing the way for the government to forcibly return Haitians to their troubled homeland.
The high court Friday voted 6-3 to stay injunctions issued by Miami U.S. District Judge C. Clyde Atkins prohibiting repatriation of the Haitians being held at Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba and aboard Coast Guard cutters. The Supreme Court said the orders were stayed until the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta rules on the matter."The government is free to begin deporting Haitians unless the 11th Circuit rules, or until the 11th Circuit rules," said attorney Ira Kurzban, representing the Haitian Refugee Center in Miami.
In a statement issued shortly after the ruling, the State Department said, "In accordance with tonight's Supreme Court decision and U.S. immigration law, the United States Government will begin immediately repatriating Haitians from the Guantanamo Naval Base who have been found not to have a plausible claim for asylum in the United States."
The statement said the repatriations would be carried out "in cooperation with the Haitian Red Cross and local authorities."
More than 11,000 refugees are crammed onto Coast Guard ships and a temporary U.S. holding facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The Supreme Court's decree topped a roller-coaster day for refugees waiting to learn their fate. Earlier Friday, the clerk's office of the 11th Circuit issued an order allowing the government to send the refugees back to Haiti. But 4 1/2 hours later, it said that order had been made by mistake.
"It was a clerical error," said Joyce Larkin, deputy clerk. "The order was erroneously issued. The motion filed by the government to stay the injunctive order issued by Judge Atkins remains pending before this court."
Kembra Smith, motions attorney for the 11th Circuit, said a facsimile message between judges apparently was sent by mistake to the clerk's office, and the erroneous order was then issued.
"I think we got an erroneous fax today, directed between the judges. It should not have come here - it should not have been released," Smith said.