PIP: Many believe that the political and economic motivations of Haitian migrants can not be separated. Since Haiti 1st became an independent nation small numbers of its citizens have emigrated, but after France's Duvalier took power in 1957, the flow of migrants reached major proportions. For several reasons, the approximate 100,000 Haitians who arrived between 1960 and 1972 identified themselves as members of an immigrant population rather than as refugees. The new Haitian organizations that arose from 1965-1972 tried to organize Haitians as an ethnic interest group in the U.S. When Haitians 1st arrived by boat there was no strong political movement in the U.S., 1st to popularize the possibility of identifying oneself as a political refugee, and then to nurture and encourage such as stance. Even at the height of the movement to support the boat people and win then status as political refugees, perhaps the majority of the Haitian population and ertainly the majority of the Haitian organizations in New York stayed away from open discussion of Haitian politics. Today, some Haitian leaders tend to put aside the issue of Haitians as members of the Haitian diaspora, while others focus on the continuation of political repression in Haiti. The self-definitions of the Haitian population in the US in the future will continue to be shaped by and in turn help shape, political and economic conditions both in the US and Haiti.