Haitian Refugees
As expected, The Times is critical of President Bush’s policy of returning Haitian refugees (editorial, May 30). You question the notion that most are economic refugees, citing the political turmoil existing in Haiti.
However, a State Department survey of recent returnees has revealed no persecution by the Haitian junta. Also, if the refugees were truly being brutalized by the military regime, why did they not travel to nearby Dominican Republic, the Bahamas or Venezuela, instead of the distant U.S.?
The only answer is economic opportunity. The majority of Haitians are simply looking for a better life.
The Bush Administration is following the correct course by returning the refugees. Without this policy, South Florida would be swamped with a mighty exodus of poor Third World immigrants.
JEFFREY A. HARTWICK
Long Beach
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