Reading Room Document

Issues Regarding the Interdiction of Vessels Within the Territorial Waters of Haiti

In this memo, the OLC considered whether the Coast Guard could interdict vessels within the territorial waters of Haiti to return the passengers to Haitian land without violating any court order in a then-ongoing lawsuit, Haitian Refugee Center v. Baker. The OLC examined the injunction, which granted plaintiffs’ counsel access to Haitians interdicted on the high seas who are or would be detained on U.S. Coast Guard vessels or at Guantanamo Bay. After analyzing both extraterritoriality and the ordinary meaning of the text of the injunction, the OLC concluded that Coast Guard could continue to interdict the vessels in Haitian territorial waters.

January 31, 1992