Congress has exhibited a double standard toward the people of Haiti. The District of Columbia appropriations conference report provides a badly needed resolution to the Districts financial problems. This conference report also contains certain immigration policy provisions that are intended to counteract a provision in the extreme. meanspirited immigration reform legislation passed by the Republicanled 104th Congress. I commend the efforts made by House and Senate conferees to stop the potential deportation of hundreds of thousands of Central American and Eastern European immigrants. however. they specifically left thousands of Haitian immigrants out in the cold. This is tragically unfair and must not be overlooked. The only discernible difference between Haitians and these other refugees is that Haitians are black. I cannot believe that in 1997 the U.S. Congress has chosen to make critical policy decisions in this irrational manner.
Identified stereotypes
Haitians are being unfairly excluded from immigration relief due to their race.