He also declined to elaborate on his own reasons for leaving, saying only that the political explanations would surface during his asylum hearings.

Immigrants on police watch lists can roam freely for years before they have an asylum hearing.

They asked a federal judge to prevent the agency from returning the boy before it granted him an asylum hearing.

The are living with Ruben Aburto pending an asylum hearing.

Only five of the more than 20,000 Haitians interviewed at sea since 1981 have been brought into the country for asylum hearings.

This time, officials said, the processing will take place on board larger Navy ships that can better accommodate the individual asylum hearings.

The Government argued this week that it should have the right to pick up Haitians at sea and return them to their country without asylum hearings.

"People ended up waiting months to get an asylum hearing," she said.

Those who pass it are then often detained for months or even years as they wait for their asylum hearings.

This permits them to circumvent international obligations to give applicants an asylum hearing when they arrive "in the country."