CHICAGO -- (AP) -- As the debate over Elian Gonzalez's fate rages on, the Rev.
 Jesse Jackson and two members of Congress are trying to draw attention to what
 they say the Cuban boy's case demonstrates -- the United States' unequal
 policies toward Cuban and Haitian refugees.

 The civil rights activist was joined Tuesday by Reps. Major Owens, D-N.Y., and Al
 Hastings D-Fla., two black members of Congress who list Haitians among their
 constituents.

 The three said the U.S. government's treatment of black Haitian refugees is racist
 and amounts to a double standard because Cuban refugees who reach the U.S.
 are allowed to stay while illegal Haitian immigrants usually are deported.

 The 1966 Cuban Readjustment Act offers those who flee the Communist island
 nation safe haven once on U.S. soil, but Haitians and others who enter the
 country illegally are sent back unless they can prove a ``credible fear'' of
 persecution in their homeland.

 That law gives ``preferential treatment'' of Cubans and reflects how better
 organized politically they are than Haitians, said Jackson, head of the
 Chicago-based Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.

 Jackson said he met Tuesday with 20 Haitian refugees who have been denied
 citizenship by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, including children born
 on the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

 ``They are in a sense, people without a country,'' Jackson said. ``We need to look
 at the disparity between U.S. policy for Cubans and for Haitians.''

 Hastings, who represents the Tallahassee, Fla. area, agrees.

 ``Is there disparate treatment?'' he asked. ``Of course there is.''

 Owens, who said he represents about 10,000 Haitians in Brooklyn, N.Y.,
 announced plans to introduce legislation next week that would automatically grant
 citizenship to any illegal immigrant child under age 12 who reaches U.S. soil
 without parents.

 Owens' proposal, which is similar to legislation recently introduced by Sens. Bob
 Graham, D-Fla., and Connie Mack, R-Fla., also would prohibit the deportation of
 any illegal immigrant parent of an American-born child under age 18.

 ``Instead of playing political football with the individual cases, it is important that
 we treat all immigrant families equal,'' Owens said. He called the debate over the
 fate of the 6-year-old Gonzalez a glaring example of inconsistency in U.S.
 immigration policy.

 Gonzalez, who was removed Saturday from his great-uncle's home in Miami, had
 been staying there since his rescue from the Atlantic Ocean last November. He
 has been reunited with his Cuban father but they remain in the U.S. while a
 custody battle over the boy plays out.

 Jackson said lawmakers also should reconsider the economic embargo that was
 imposed against Cuba shortly after Fidel Castro led a takeover of that country's
 government some 40 years ago.

 ``If we can relate to China, we can relate to Cuba,'' Jackson said. ``They are no
 threat to us ideologically or militarily. This policy is outdated.''