World : Action Against Haitians Defended

Bush Administration officials declared wholehearted support today for stopping boatloads of Haitians on the high seas and sending them home, despite charges that the policy is unfair and is perceived as racist.

The State Department’s deputy legal adviser, Alan Kreczko, told a House judiciary subcommittee that the action is needed to halt “a mass illegal migration of Haitians into the United States.”

But Rep. Dante B. Fascell (D-Fla.) said: “There is a widespread perception . . . that Haitians, because they are black, are being treated less favorably under our immigration laws than other groups. This perception must not be allowed to continue.”