164
Opinion of the Court
but also would have impeded diplomatic efforts to restore democratic government in Haiti and would have posed a life-threatening danger to thousands of persons embarking on long voyages in dangerous craft.12 The second choice would have advanced those policies but deprived the fleeing Haitians of any screening process at a time when a signifi-cant minority of them were being screened in. See id., at 66.
On May 23, 1992, President Bush adopted the second
choice.13 After assuming office, President Clinton decided
12 See App. 244-245.
13 Executive Order No. 12807 reads in relevant part as follows: "Interdiction of Illegal Aliens "By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including sections 212(f) and 215(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended (8 U. S. C. 1182(f) and 1185(a)(1)), and whereas:
"(1) The President has authority to suspend the entry of aliens coming by sea to the United States without necessary documentation, to establish reasonable rules and regulations regarding, and other limitations on, the entry or attempted entry of aliens into the United States, and to repatriate aliens interdicted beyond the territorial sea of the United States;
"(2) The international legal obligations of the United States under the United Nations Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees (U. S. T. I. A. S. 6577; 19 U. S. T. 6223) to apply Article 33 of the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees do not extend to persons located outside the territory of the United States;
"(3) Proclamation No. 4865 suspends the entry of all undocumented aliens into the United States by the high seas; and
"(4) There continues to be a serious problem of persons attempting to come to the United States by sea without necessary documentation and otherwise illegally; "I, GEORGE BUSH, President of the United States of America, hereby order as follows:
. . . . . "Sec. 2. (a) The Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating, in consultation, where appropriate, with the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of State, shall issue appro-
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