OPPORTUNITY KNOCKING:

Bush Remark Gives Advocates Hope for Release of Haitians (DANA CANEDY, November 9, 2002, NY Times)

A day after President Bush said his administration would make sure that Haitian refugees were treated like all asylum seekers of other nationalities, immigration groups and Haitian advocates had mixed reactions about whether his remarks would soon lead to the release of hundreds of refugees being detained here.

Mr. Bush made the remarks at a news conference on Thursday. He said Haitians should be treated the same as all migrants, except Cubans. "And the difference, of course," he said. "is that we don't send people back to Cuba because they're going to be persecuted."

Mr. Bush added, "Haitians and everybody else ought to be treated the same way, and we're in the process of making sure that happens."

This one would appear to be a gimme. The President can make a gesture that is at once pro-immigrant and pro-black by processing these folks quickly and letting them stay. Posted by Orrin Judd at November 9, 2002 6:42 AM