George H.W. Bush: “Absolutely. And it's a very good question. The answer is this: Yes, the Statue of Liberty still stands, and we still…”

“Absolutely. And it's a very good question. The answer is this: Yes, the Statue of Liberty still stands, and we still open our arms to people that are politically oppressed. We cannot and, as long as the laws are on the book, I will not, because I've sworn to uphold the Constitution, open the doors to economic refugees all over the world. We can't do that. We're having a border crossing coming in from Mexico in unprecedented numbers. We're trying to, not to be mean about it, but we're trying to say, ``Listen, we've got to live by the laws of this land.'' It is my understanding that the vast majority of the refugees--and they're being screened; they're now going to be screened at the Embassy; they were being screened at Guantanamo--are economic refugees. There was one guy that was thrown out twice and vowed as he left the Coast Guard cutter the second time, ``I'll be back in a week.'' There are merchants in Haiti today advertising almost like bounty, ``Pay us $500 and you can climb into my unsafe boat and set out across the ocean,'' knowing that out of compassion the United States Coast Guard would save them. We have to control our own immigration policy. We've got to do it with compassion. We've got to do it under the law, though. So what I'm saying to you is, we are not repatriating willfully people that are fleeing political oppression. Part of our policy on Haiti, and we're taking a leadership role in the OAS, is to return Mr. Aristide, who was democratically elected, to Haiti. We want him back there. And if we don't do that--I would say this, add this peripherally--if we don't do that, that sends a bad signal to those who might be plotting coups in other parts of our hemisphere, which, thank God, is almost totally democratic today. So our policy is, I think, the right policy. I think we do have to control--some accuse it, incidentally, of being a racist policy. I would vehemently deny, that is not the case, because these people have every right to be screened. We've accompanied this program now, so we will not be faced with the numbers of leaky boats, with giving additional food aid to Haiti. We will continue with our sanction program, and we will continue to try to get Mr. Aristide returned. Frankly, the numbers as of yesterday were down of the people fleeing. I still worry about it because some will get by and some will die on the sea because they are being--it's like a magnet to them, these advertisements that ``we'll get you to Guantanamo'' or ``we'll get you to Florida.'' We're bound by our laws to screen people properly, to protect people's rights. But we are not bound to have an open policy where everybody in economic deprivation around the world can come to the United States. I don't think that should be our policy, and it's not. So I worry about it. I worry about the appearance of it to some. But I'm glad you raised it because it's the first chance I've had since the new order to fully explain it. I am convinced that the people in Haiti are not being physically oppressed. We've got all kinds of ways to monitor that situation there. A returnee, for example, a guy that's taken from Guantanamo and sent back, I would not want on my conscience that that person having fled oppression, anyone that was fleeing oppression, would be victimized upon return. So I think I can say to you they're not being oppressed. Political refugees, where they're caught up in this political turmoil, are being screened and have been admitted and will continue to be admitted to the United States under our laws. But under the other part of our laws, economic refugees will have to come in under the quotas designated under the law. So there it is. North American Free Trade Agreement”