BIAS ALLEGATIONS SPARK STAFFING CHANGES AT ATLANTA AIRPORT

ATLANTA -- The U.S. Customs Service transferred a white supervisor
after allegations that black passengers were unfairly targeted for
inspections at Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport, according to
a published report.

Dale O'Connor, the white supervisor of the passenger inspection team,
is being transferred to the cargo division, while Robert White, a
black supervisor, is being shifted from another division to head the
16-member inspection team, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported
today.

The agency is also assigning a black Customs official from another
city to be acting head of the service's Atlanta office while a
permanent replacement is sought for its recently retired chief, the
paper said.

In Washington, Customs Service spokesman Dennis Murphy confirmed there
were changes but declined to identify the workers.

"These changes are an effort to bring fresh perspectives to passenger
processing in Atlanta,'' he said.

O'Connor said today he could not comment on the newspaper's
report.

Last week, Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., asked for a formal investigation
into allegations of racial discrimination by customs inspectors at the
airport. Lewis made his request in a letter to Treasury Secretary
Robert Rubin, who oversees the Customs Service.

The letter cited a recent report by WAGA-TV alleging that customs
inspectors at Hartsfield are more likely to detain blacks than whites.
The report said 90 percent of those sent from the airport to hospitals
to be X-rayed for drugs were black, but only 20 percent of blacks
detained by customs officers were carrying drugs.

"These numbers clearly indicate that customs has been engaged in
discriminatory practices that have infringed on the fundamental rights
of thousands of African-Americans and other travelers,'' Lewis wrote.

Reacting to the newspaper's report, Lewis said today he was pleased to
see that Customs administrators appear to be taking some action, but
Congress still needs to look into the allegations.

The Senate Finance Committee is conducting a review of the Customs
Service's enforcement and commercial operations.

Allegations of racial discrimination in customs inspections have
surfaced elsewhere. In Chicago, more than 80 black females have filed
a class-action lawsuit claiming they were singled out for strip
searches at O'Hare International Airport because of race and gender.