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Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., answers police questions as he's arrested in front of the White House on Thursday. Hastings and others in the Congressional Black Caucus were protesting U.S.-Haitian policy. Rejecting claims by such critics, the State Department says relatively few Haitian boat people suffer political persecution after they are returned to Haiti under U.S. policy of forced repatriation. In Miami, all but nine of 411 Haitians from a freighter intercepted off Florida will be released to pursue asylum claims. The nine are being held for prosecution as participants in the smuggling operation.