decided at a later date by legislation" but who were allowed to be in the US. US President Ronald Reagan changed the policy in 1981 and sent the Coast Guard to intercept and repatriate Haitians fleeing by boat. He jailed the refugees who made it to the United States. Refugees continued to flee during the militant governments that followed the Duvaliers. Jean-Bertrand Aristide was in power for eight months before being overthrown. During this time both human rights abuses decreased and the number of people trying to leave decreased by one third. Six weeks after Aristide was overthrown, at least 1,500 Haitians had been killed. The number of refugees fleeing by boat skyrocketed to new levels as did the people fleeing into the Dominican Republic. In the entire decade before Aristide was overthrown, 25,000 Haitians were intercepted at sea; 38,000 were intercepted in the first year after he was overthrown. The US had well established methods of intercepting, jailing, and repatriating Haitians by the time the largest wave of people seeking refuge arrived. These policies were pursued by multiple US presidents because of American anti-Haitian biases that saw Haitian immigrants as a threat based on a combination of racism, nationalism, xenophobia, classism, and misperceptions that Haitians carried disease at higher numbers than other nationalities. History Presidency of George H. W. Bush The number of Haitian refugees fleeing the country by boat escalated to new levels after Aristide was overthrown. The George H. W. Bush administration opted to continue the policy of repatriation that had been used for Haitian boat people previously when they were fleeing the Duvalier dictatorship. If the refugees made it to US soil, they would be protected from repatriation by international law. The administration began redirecting the refugees to Guantanamo Bay after the Haitian Refugee Center won a court case that established a temporary restraining order against forced repatriation. By November 1991, the Administration had to raise the previous cap of 2,500 refugees at Guantanamo. The camp continued to grow substantially until May 1992 when around 11,300 refugees were being held at the military base. The refugees were held on six subcamps in McCalla Airfield and Camp Bulkeley. There weren't enough supplies. Many refugees slept on cardboard or bare ground and others on cots. Each camp was surrounded in barb wire fencing. Refugees rotated through each camp as they passed or failed each exam on the way