The Haitians at Guantanamo have suffered enormously over the past several months. They have risked their lives in Haiti. fighting for democracy. only to learn in many cases. while at Guantanamo. of the loss of loved ones they were forced to leave behind. All have met the Immigration and Naturalization Services standard of having a credible fear of persecution. a standard which should have allowed them to be admitted to the United States to pursue their asylum claims. But instead of bringing them here the INS subjected many of them to an even higher standard. which they virtually all passed. Judge Johnsons fair and just decision recognizes the extent to which we have discriminated against the Haitians. From a humanitarian standpoint and as an act of Lompassion we must now look ourselves In the mirror and acknowledge what is right and what Is just. What is right is to allow bona fide refugees to live in freedom and with dignity. What Is just is to treat refugees fairly no matter how loud the voices of prejudice. We should use the same standards for Haitians as we do for other refugees. Our current treatment of the Haitians refugees canat bestbe characterized as discriminatory and unAmerican. We must move now to end such treatment and end the 20 months of suffering the Haitians have experienced. Mr.
Keywords matched
refugees Naturalization asylum claims Immigration