Immigration · Primary-source case analysis

Sale: The INA’s Return Restriction Did Not Apply to Coast Guard Interdictions on the High Seas

By Aneeta Mishra and Timothy Chan

Published May 22, 2026

Sale v. Haitian Centers Council reviewed an executive order directing the Coast Guard to intercept vessels outside United States waters and return passengers to Haiti without refugee screening.

Location controlled the statutory reading

The Court read the then-governing INA provision as protecting people at the border or within United States territory, not people intercepted on the high seas.

The treaty was read in territorial context

The majority concluded that Article 33 did not impose the asserted extraterritorial duty on the Coast Guard operation.

The policy challenge therefore failed

Because neither source applied outside the territory in the majority’s view, the return program was not enjoined on those grounds.

The holding was confined to offshore interception

The case did not decide the procedures owed to a person who reaches a port of entry or is present in the United States.

Key takeaways

• Identify where the person was encountered.
• Separate offshore interdiction from border and interior procedures.
• Check the currently governing statutory and treaty framework.
• Preserve screening requests and location evidence.