Camp Bulkeley
Encyclopedia
Camp Bulkeley was a detention center
located within the United States
military base
at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
, where HIV
-positive refugees and asylum seekers were held during the early 1990s. After two years of protest, including a mention by presenters Susan Sarandon
and Tim Robbins
during the 1993 Academy Awards
, the camp was declared unconstitutional by United States district court
Judge Sterling Johnson Jr.
. In a negotiated agreement with attorneys for the detainees, that decision was vacated
and the camp was closed shortly thereafter. Brandt Goldstein writes about the camp in considerable detail in Storming the Court: How a Band of Law Students Fought the President--And Won (Scribner 2005).
Following the September 30, 1991 overthrow of democratically elected Haiti
an President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
in a military coup d'etat
, a large-scale exodus of Haitian boat people
ensued. The United States Coast Guard
rescued a total of 41,342 Haitians during 1991 and 1992, more than the number of rescued refugees from the previous 10 years combined.
Just days after the coup d'état, the administration of US President George H.W. Bush ordered the Coast Guard to stop bringing fleeing Haitians to the US, and instead to redirect their boats to the US military base at Guantanamo. There, the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service
(INS) ruled that more than half of these refugees were economic migrants, not political refugees, and had them deported back to Haiti. Others were deemed political refugees, but before being allowed entry to the United States, the INS tested them for HIV. Those who tested positive were denied entry under a 1987 law barring emigration
of HIV positive individuals into the US. In all, 267 Haitian refugees were held at Guantanamo, making Camp Bulkeley the world's first detention center for people with HIV/AIDS.
The creation of the "Guantanamo HIV Camp," as it was commonly known, infuriated AIDS activists in the United States, who immediately began protesting against it and the Bush administration. During his 1992 presidential campaign, Bill Clinton
declared the camp inhumane and illegal, but upon becoming President, his administration took no steps to close the camp.
On January 29, 1993, the detainees - many having spent a year and a half at Camp Bulkeley - went on a hunger strike. Yale Law School
students, who had helped file legal challenges to the policy of holding HIV+ refugees at Camp Bulkeley, joined the hunger strike in solidarity. After one week, the Yale students "passed" the hunger strike to students at Harvard, who in turn passed the strike to students at the University of Michigan
at Ann Arbor. Hunger strikes, rallies and protests were organized on college campuses around the country, with tens of thousands of students participating. These protests, in conjunction with Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins using their appearance on the 1993 Academy Awards broadcast to bring attention to the refugees' situation, brought increasing political pressure on the Clinton administration to close the camp.
On June 8, 1993, US district court Judge Sterling Johnson Jr. declared the camps unconstitutional in a scathing judicial opinion. "The Haitians' plight is a tragedy of immense proportion, and their continued detainment is totally unacceptable to this court," he wrote {Haitian Ctrs. Council v. Sale, 823 F. Supp. 1028, 1045 - Note, however, that this decision was vacated by the Supreme Court's subsequent review, at 509 U.S. 155}. The Clinton administration negotiated an agreement where that decision was vacated, and the refugees were allowed to enter the United States. By June 18, all the refugees had been relocated to New York
or Miami and the camp was closed.
According to a 2003 article in the magazine The Nation, many of the HIV+ refugees held at Camp Bulkeley still have not had their asylum applications processed. Refugees not eventually granted asylum may be forcibly deported to Haiti, over a decade after first arriving at Guantanamo.
Detention center
A detention center or a detention centre is any location used for detention. Specifically, it can mean:*A jail or prison*A structure for immigration detention*An internment camp or concentration camp...
located within the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
military base
Military base
A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. In general, a military base provides accommodations for one or more units, but it may also be used as a...
at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, where HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
-positive refugees and asylum seekers were held during the early 1990s. After two years of protest, including a mention by presenters Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon is an American actress. She has worked in films and television since 1969, and won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1995 film Dead Man Walking. She had also been nominated for the award for four films before that and has received other recognition for her...
and Tim Robbins
Tim Robbins
Timothy Francis "Tim" Robbins is an American actor, screenwriter, director, producer, activist and musician. He is the former longtime partner of actress Susan Sarandon...
during the 1993 Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
, the camp was declared unconstitutional by United States district court
United States district court
The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
Judge Sterling Johnson Jr.
Sterling Johnson Jr.
Sterling Johnson, Jr. is a senior United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York. Before his appointment to the bench in 1991, Johnson was an attorney for 30 years, specializing in drug enforcement and the prosecution of narcotics cases...
. In a negotiated agreement with attorneys for the detainees, that decision was vacated
Vacated judgment
A vacated judgment makes a previous legal judgment legally void. A vacated judgment is usually the result of the judgment of an appellate court which overturns, reverses, or sets aside the judgment of a lower court....
and the camp was closed shortly thereafter. Brandt Goldstein writes about the camp in considerable detail in Storming the Court: How a Band of Law Students Fought the President--And Won (Scribner 2005).
Following the September 30, 1991 overthrow of democratically elected Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
an President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Jean-Bertrand Aristide is a Haitian former Catholic priest and politician who served as Haiti's first democratically elected president. A proponent of liberation theology, Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince in 1982 after completing his studies...
in a military coup d'etat
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
, a large-scale exodus of Haitian boat people
Boat people
Boat people is a term that usually refers to refugees, illegal immigrants or asylum seekers who emigrate in numbers in boats that are sometimes old and crudely made...
ensued. The United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
rescued a total of 41,342 Haitians during 1991 and 1992, more than the number of rescued refugees from the previous 10 years combined.
Just days after the coup d'état, the administration of US President George H.W. Bush ordered the Coast Guard to stop bringing fleeing Haitians to the US, and instead to redirect their boats to the US military base at Guantanamo. There, the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service
Immigration and Naturalization Service
The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service , now referred to as Legacy INS, ceased to exist under that name on March 1, 2003, when most of its functions were transferred from the Department of Justice to three new components within the newly created Department of Homeland Security, as...
(INS) ruled that more than half of these refugees were economic migrants, not political refugees, and had them deported back to Haiti. Others were deemed political refugees, but before being allowed entry to the United States, the INS tested them for HIV. Those who tested positive were denied entry under a 1987 law barring emigration
Emigration
Emigration is the act of leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state is termed migration. There are many reasons why people...
of HIV positive individuals into the US. In all, 267 Haitian refugees were held at Guantanamo, making Camp Bulkeley the world's first detention center for people with HIV/AIDS.
The creation of the "Guantanamo HIV Camp," as it was commonly known, infuriated AIDS activists in the United States, who immediately began protesting against it and the Bush administration. During his 1992 presidential campaign, Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
declared the camp inhumane and illegal, but upon becoming President, his administration took no steps to close the camp.
On January 29, 1993, the detainees - many having spent a year and a half at Camp Bulkeley - went on a hunger strike. Yale Law School
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
students, who had helped file legal challenges to the policy of holding HIV+ refugees at Camp Bulkeley, joined the hunger strike in solidarity. After one week, the Yale students "passed" the hunger strike to students at Harvard, who in turn passed the strike to students at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
at Ann Arbor. Hunger strikes, rallies and protests were organized on college campuses around the country, with tens of thousands of students participating. These protests, in conjunction with Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins using their appearance on the 1993 Academy Awards broadcast to bring attention to the refugees' situation, brought increasing political pressure on the Clinton administration to close the camp.
On June 8, 1993, US district court Judge Sterling Johnson Jr. declared the camps unconstitutional in a scathing judicial opinion. "The Haitians' plight is a tragedy of immense proportion, and their continued detainment is totally unacceptable to this court," he wrote {Haitian Ctrs. Council v. Sale, 823 F. Supp. 1028, 1045 - Note, however, that this decision was vacated by the Supreme Court's subsequent review, at 509 U.S. 155}. The Clinton administration negotiated an agreement where that decision was vacated, and the refugees were allowed to enter the United States. By June 18, all the refugees had been relocated to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
or Miami and the camp was closed.
According to a 2003 article in the magazine The Nation, many of the HIV+ refugees held at Camp Bulkeley still have not had their asylum applications processed. Refugees not eventually granted asylum may be forcibly deported to Haiti, over a decade after first arriving at Guantanamo.