Cite as: 509 U. S. 155 (1993)
Opinion of the Court
are often overloaded, unseaworthy, lacking basic safety equipment, and operated by inexperienced persons, braving the hazards of a prolonged journey over high seas in search of safety and freedom." App. 24.
In April, the District Court granted the plaintiffs a preliminary injunction requiring defendants to give Haitians on Guantanamo access to counsel for the screening process. We stayed that order on April 22, 1992, 503 U. S. 1000, and, while the defendants' appeal from it was pending, the President issued the Executive Order now under attack. Plaintiffs then applied for a temporary restraining order to enjoin implementation of the Executive Order. They contended that it violated § 243(h) of the Act and Article 33 of the United Nations Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. The District Court denied the application because it concluded that § 243(h) is "unavailable as a source of relief for Haitian aliens in international waters," and that such a statutory provision was necessary because the Protocol's provisions are not "self-executing." App. to Pet. for Cert. 166a-168a.14
The Court of Appeals reversed. Haitian Centers Council, Inc. v. McNary, 969 F. 2d 1350 (CA2 1992). After concluding that the decision of the Eleventh Circuit in Haitian Refugee Center, Inc. v. Baker, 953 F. 2d 1498 (1992), did not bar its consideration of the issue, the court held that § 243(h)(1) does not apply only to aliens within the United States. The court found its conclusion mandated by both
14 This decision was not based on agreement with the Executive's policy. The District Court wrote: "On its face, Article 33 imposes a mandatory duty upon contracting states such as the United States not to return refugees to countries in which they face political persecution. Notwithstanding the explicit language of the Protocol and dicta in Supreme Court cases such as INS v. Cardoza Fonseca, 480 U. S. 421 (1987) and INS v. Stevic, 467 U. S. 407 (1984), the controlling precedent in the Second Circuit is Bertrand v. Sava which indicates that the Protocols' provisions are not self-executing. See 684 F. 2d 204, 218 (2d Cir. 1982)." App. to Pet. for Cert. 166a-167a.
167
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