Sale v. Haitian Centers Council

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Sale v. Haitian Centers Council, 509 U.S. 155 (1993) is a case in which U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the President's executive order that all illegal aliens intercepted on the high seas should be repatriated was not limited by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 or Article 33 of the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.

Originally, the United States and the Haitian government made an agreement in 1981 to stop all vessels coming to the United States and return any undocumented aliens who were not refugees and would not be harmed upon return.

After a regime change in Haiti, American policy changed and was interpreted that all undocumented aliens would be sent back unless they landed in The United States.

The case came before the court on March 2, 1993 and was decided on June 21, 1993. The 8-1 decision was delivered by Justice John Paul Stevens with Justice Harry Blackmun dissenting, and overturned a decision of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.