This 1980 photo shows a U.S. Coast Guard cutter with more than 50 Haitian refugees on board. The refugees were intercepted during blockade operations.

Imagine that two refugees simultaneously wash ashore on Key Biscayne. Both are coming to America to seek freedom, opportunity and sanctuary. Both are taking great risks. Both desperately want to become Americans. Imagine that one is from Cuba and the other is from Haiti.

Should they be treated the same? Should one be forced to stay in detention while the other is set free? Should one be faced with the insurmountable legal challenge of securing legal counsel and presenting a credible case for asylum from Miami's Krome detention center while the other is released into Miami's Cuban community?

Back in October, about 200 Haitians waded onto Key Biscayne, shining a bright light on Bush immigration policy. At the time, immigration policy dictated that Haitians were detained even though no other seafaring refugee group was. The policy singled out Haitians and clearly had racist undertones.

The administration responded to criticism of this procedure by changing immigration policy. As a result of this change, all illegal immigrants are now detained (except, of course, Cubans, who enjoy great benefits from 1960s-era legislation controlling their immigration). So much for racism, right? I was quite shocked at the callous response of the Bush administration. Perhaps I shouldn't have been.

We're talking about an administration that is detaining 680 prisoners in Guantanamo as part of the war on terrorism, most of whom have been held there since January 2002. They have been detained indefinitely without access to counsel, without formal notice of charges and without trial. A recent report from the Justice Department's inspector general documented a pattern of physical and verbal abuse by the guards at Guantanamo.

Fifty-nine Haitian refugees remain in detention in Miami, despite applications for asylum or release on bond and protests from Haitian immigration advocates. Ernesto Joseph, who was recently released from Krome, says guards mistreated him and told him he smelled bad.

This is, of course, how compassionate conservatism works, so I probably shouldn't have been surprised. But I was disappointed, and I am not alone. This month, the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Denver approved a resolution that calls for an end to the unfair detention policy of Haitian refugees. The mayors called the detention policy "unfair, discriminatory and inhumane."

When the detention policy was announced, Attorney General John Ashcroft said that he feared a mass influx of Haitians. Does he also fear a mass influx of Cubans? If so, Cubans should also be detained. If he welcomes Cubans but not Haitians, which I suspect is the case, why do we allow this kind of discriminatory thinking to hold power in our country?

The executive branch made this policy, and President Bush has the power to change it. Since October, immigration policy has been moved to the new Department of Homeland Security, which could have a better track record on civil rights than Ashcroft's Justice Department. Here's a perfect opportunity for the new department to distinguish itself, and here's why Secretary Tom Ridge should change the policy: Securing legal counsel and presenting credible cases for asylum is very difficult for people who are detained.

We live in a world of heightened security, and tweaking immigration policy is an obvious way to fight terrorism. But we must not abandon the legal principles that make our country great. Many Haitians arrive in Florida with legitimate asylum cases. How many are detained, denied access to lawyers and deported? We may never know.

Providing Haitians access to justice is the right thing to do. Even if we don't treat Haitians with the same deference as Cubans, who enjoy the unwavering support of the Republican Party, we should at least allow them to present credible asylum cases.

Mike Pope is the letters editor of the Tallahassee Democrat. He can be reached at 599-2173 or mpope@tallahassee.com.