#3365: Sharpton criticizes Haitian disparity (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: Rosann Clements <rosann@onemain.com>

Sharpton criticizes Haitian disparity
Wednesday, April 26, 2000
The Associated Press
NEW YORK -- They do not make the evening news or grab politicians' attention
as Elian Gonzalez has, but thousands of Haitian children are separated from
their families because of U.S. immigration policies that deny them
advantages given to Cubans, the Rev. Al Sharpton said Tuesday.
"Though I salute the Justice Department for reuniting Elian Gonzalez with
his father, there are at least 3,000 Haitian Elians that the Justice
Department and the federal government need to look at," Sharpton said. "We
cannot have elective compassion for people that come here for political
asylum."
Sharpton said the Elian uproar highlights the disparity in treatment of
immigrants from Cuba and Haiti. Although federal law allows Cubans who reach
the United States to stay, Haitians and others who arrive illegally are
generally sent back unless they can prove a "credible fear" of persecution
in their homeland.
Sharpton, who held a news conference earlier Tuesday with representatives of
the Haitian-American Alliance, said that about 3,000 Haitian families with
members in New York have been separated because of immigration laws.
"I think America is clearly more anti-Castro than they are anti-dictatorship
and tyranny," he said.