On May 9, 1979, the Haitian Refugee Center and eight individual Haitians brought a class action on behalf of over 4,000 Haitians in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, challenging the legality of the "Haitian Program." This program was instituted by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in the summer of 1978 to accelerate the processing of applications made by Haitians for asylum. Haitians fled their country and feared persecution, imprisonment and death if they returned. Under the program, all of their political asylum claims were denied by the INS. The Haitians alleged that the actions of INS constituted impermissible discrimination on the basis of their national origin.

After a non-jury trial, the District Court (Judge James Lawrence King) issued a lengthy opinion dated July 2, 1980, in which it found that the manner in which INS treated the more than 4,000 Haitian plaintiffs "violated the Constitution, the immigration statutes, international agreements, INS regulations and INS operating procedures. It must stop." Haitian Refugee Center v. Civiletti, 503 F.Supp. 442 (S.D.Fla.1980). Judge King ordered the government to submit a plan for reprocessing the applications for asylum to the court for its approval and enjoined further deportation proceedings against class members. The government appealed and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed with some modifications. Haitian Refugee Center v. Smith, 676 F.2d 1023 (5th Cir.1982).

After the appeal, the District Court awarded the plaintiffs attorneys' fees and costs of $441,094.98. Haitian Refugee Center, Inc. v. Smith, 644 F.Supp. 382 (S.D.Fla. 1984). The Court of Appeals affirmed. Haitian Refugee Center v. Meese, 791 F.2d 1489 (11th Cir. 1986). On rehearing, the judgment was vacated in part, to the extent that the District Court's fee award included "fees for fees" ($14,472.35 awarded to the attorneys for their work on the application for fees in this case). In all other respects, the fee award was left intact. Haitian Refugee Center v. Meese, 804 F.2d 1573 (11th Cir. 1986).

Dan Dalton - 01/03/2008


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