U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum (R-Altamonte Springs) called for a congressional investigation last week into the Coast Guard's June 30 sinking of a 14-foot boat with six Cuban refugees on it, calling it a "horrific incident." The men survived, but the incident set off a firestorm in Miami's Cuban community, which represents deep pockets and conservative votes for the Senate wannabe.
McCollum has said nothing about similar Immigration and Naturalization Service attacks on Mexicans, nor has he moved to reform a law he pushed through three years ago forcing the INS to imprison and deport legal aliens who once committed a crime. That law has turned the Miami detention center into a de facto prison, with most inmates law-abiding citizens who committed their crimes -- and served their time -- years ago. The men captured on June 30 now join the estimated 400 people crowding that detention center.
