•  1970s: Before 1971, waves of Haitian refugees flee to the United States and other industrialized countries as a result of Dr. François Duvalier’s (“Papa Doc”) regime of persecution. Many are middle-class and educated. After his death in 1971, the waves of refugees increase. Most refugees in this second group are poor people, fleeing the miserable conditions under the corrupt regime of François Duvalier’s son, Jean-Claude Duvalier (“Baby Doc”).

•  1990s: After Haiti’s president Jean-Bertrand Aristide is deposed in a coup in 1990, the Organization of American States, the United Nations, and the U.S. government begin to impose sanctions on Haiti. The number of Haitian refugees grows as poverty intensifies under the sanctions. Sanctions are in place from 1990 until 1994, when Aristide is reinstated as president.

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