Humanities Homework Help

I’m studying for my History class and need an explanation.

In 1791 the Black slaves on the Caribbean Island of Haiti staged a successful revolt against their French colonial overlords. The minority White population was either massacred or else fled to the safety of the United States where Americans welcomed them as refugees. Yes, America has always been a generous land where immigrants seeking protection from religious or political repression (or even a chance at a better life) have escaped persecution abroad. However, some of these immigrants, sad to say, were actually the oppressors back in their own home countries and wound up on American shores only because the proverbial worm had turned and these refugees had suddenly found themselves targeted for “payback” at the hands of the people who they had mistreated terribly.

So do people who were clearly the oppressors back in their own native lands (like the French colonial masters back in 1791) deserve to seek shelter in the United States when it’s finally their time to suffer for their past crimes? Or should anyone coming to America be able to start “fresh” and hence escape responsibility for their past crimes?