OMINOUS OUTBURST BY CUBAN REFUGEES IN MIAMI EXPOSES DANGEROUS MOUNTING TENSIONS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP65B00383R000200220001-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 7, 2004
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: January 1, 1963
• Content Type: OPEN

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Approved For Release 2004/06/23 :CIA-RDP65B00383R000200220001-7
CO1~IGRESSIONAL REC~?RI7 - ~Q'fISB 287
Later, a group of about SOD Cubans, most
od them members of invasion., brigade 2808'.
eet out on a p~t8st march to palace head-
Cuban GI bill was being considered. At
that time,. I publicly stated. my opposi-
tion before top echelon officials
of execu-
.
quarte;s,
tive agencies having .3urfsdiction of the
The citizenry ,of?Miami, Fla., has long. Cuban. refugee. grogram, I told ari' that
borne .with patience the burden of an I felt that the present programs are more
onslaught. of . dispossessed Cubans-a 'than adequate and- that I alli opposed
burden which should long ago have. been to an new or additional benefits. I am
shared by the entire United States. grate~ul that. no more has been heard
Valiant efforts have been made by our of this proposition,
- President, the Federal and State agen- , i. again respectfully submit that Cuban
ties, our Churches, business institutions, exiles l~kust be aAooated to cominunities-
and individual citizens, to assist in every all overahe United States and riot Con-
way possible. centrated in one already greatly over-
Arriving in Miami penniless and with, burdened area, and no further flow
3ust the clothes they were wearing, al- should Come to the Miami area,
most all of these Cuban?_refugees ,had. Mr. Speaker, I would like to spread
been. foxced to give. up their homes, their ~ on the REeoRn a letter which as recently
businesses,. their life savings,. and .all, ~ February 15 I directed to Mr. -John
their personal property. ..Frederick Thomas, director of the Cuban
To help them meet the basic needs of refugee program:
eXiStenCe, the Federal GOVerriment haS I am quite concerned-over the Cuban refu-
ma41O financial and Other assistance gee program in my_ district. The residents
available tO them u~tir. they Can beCOme of Dade County have been extremely patient
self-SLlppOrting, and understanding of the problems of these
Employment opportunity in' Miami is refugees and have cooperated to the fullest.
limited. There. simply are not enough However; as I-have emphasized many times
~ObS tO aCCQInmOdate both local residents before, Dade County has long aga reached
and refugees. There arOSe Open COm- the saturation point.
petition and eeonQmie conflict between I have: been deluged with mail from mg
the permanent citizenry and the incom- constituents indicating their dissatisfaction
with the rate of resettlement. of these rein-
ing refugees. The balloon had to burst.. gees (she latest official figures indicate a
I have noted the ever-increasing frus- _ severe drop in resettlements) and their
tratiorls,, stresses;, strains, and economic strong opposition to any additional beneflta
1115 1m8OSed On the people of xfly .area. to the Cuban refugees. I am in Yull agree-
For this reasonr I have for over 2 years went with these views, and I might add that
fought. for a more realistic approach to I believe the present programs to. be more.
- this long-festering situation. than adequate and I am opposed to the
eatabli~ri}nent of broad new programs for
I?have repeatedly adVOCated=tO twO. any Cuban refugees. I fully support the
Presidents axld Government officials-- previously granted authorization for quaIifted
that Dad@ _ bounty and Florida, had Cuban refugees to serve- and be trained in:
reached a saturation point on the ac- the U.S. Armed Forces, but not to be granted
ceptance of Cuban refugees. any special. beneflta or privileges for this.
service.
Long ago I urged,,and have, continued,. I would respectfully request, first, that ii
fighting for, the establishment Oi? aIi .any additional Cttban refugees are to be per-
additiona~ port of entry, and. reception mitten to enter the United States in the
Center. future, they be assigned to a port of entry
:E+ong' agC7 and many times since, I and processed through a reception center
urged extension and amplification of'the other than Dade County or the State of
FIorida; second, that additional emphasis be
resettlement program under w~liCh the placed an the resettlement program and that:
Government-through , JaxiUaTy 25,, it be acQeleraEed- and. implemented to the=
1963-has resettled.5~?974 Cubaxis; not fullest degree; and third, that I be notifl"ed
quite one-third aP the 157,525 persons at the earliest practicable moment ii any
entering and. registering from- Cuba. new programs or broadening of present pro-
Again. Ireiterate, no community the size gTaxns are being contemplates.
of metropopxtan Dade County could con- I respectfully go on record Mr.. Speak-
ceivably be expected to absorb such a er, urging the immediate attentionof the
shock. _. House to this mast .urgent resluest. Thee
Time and time again, I-have met_with situation in the Miami area. is dangerous
the Secretary of the Department of and explosive. It is. made. for those. who
Health, Education, and Welfare and would deliberate]y attempt to -set ~i~~--
other top echelon governmental afTicials zen against refugee-yes, even refugee
concerned with the Cuban;r~fugee pro- against refugee-and to utilize the pent-
grams, to discuss the need to, reevaluate up .emotions of American and Cuban
the overall program. Long ago, it was alike to supply the. fuel of the Commu-
abvious that this vs!~5 no longer a tem- nist propagandist.
porary situation; the facts. demanded. I submitk Mr. Speaker,. tYlat now is the-
that priority attention be- devoted to time for us: to act on some Conclusive,-
resettlement-to opening a reception solution for this problem which- will. re-
center .elsewhere.. lieve all possibilities of a further attempt
Admirable efforts .have been made by to exploit the frustrations and stresses of
this administration and the agencies of residents of the Miami area. -The need
the Federal Government in their at- is not tomorrow, but right now.
tempts to alleviate this situation, While It is iIIlperative that notion be taken
the programs instituted have been highly to permanently. alleviate- the economiQ.
successful, we have: to da more.. and psychological ills that have beset-the
Onr February 5 of this .year,,,. I ad- long-suffering Miami community. We
dressed myself to-i:egorts,that,a so-ealied must expeditiously- implement.. the }~n-
manitarlam and iiatel3igent programs
which. will relocate .large numbers of
Cuban exiles immediately-until such
day as they can. be returned to,a free,.
democratic Cuba.
Mr, Speaker, I am pleased to advise
that, partially, in response to my letter
to Mr. Thomas, a meeting was held be-
tween ofHCials of the U'.S. Department of
Health, Education, and Welfare,. and
four national voluntary agencies which
have major responsibility for carrying -
out the Cuban resettlement program.
Dr. Ellen Winston, Commissioner of
HEW's new Welfare Administration, told
the group that the resettlement program
has her full support-and the full support
of the Department and the Federal Gov-
ernment. She said:-
We want to secure- the best possible reset-
tlement of" the refugees in the .least possible
time so that the lathers and mothers and
children in Miami, who so urgently need
new homes and new jobs, can begin new
lives, In the case of the refugees,: the path
to independence and sell-support can iol-
low only one. major route-resettlement.:
it is a source of deep satisfaction to
me to note that the good work of the De- '
partment of Health, Education, and Wel-
fare- will be continued-that relocation
is to beimmediately-accelerated and dili-
gently pursued. This is one constructive
step. toward the ultimate solution. -
I have received the following letter
from Mr, John F. Thomas, director of
the Cuban refugee program, in response
to my February 15 letter, to which I
have referred earlier in this statement, in
which L called his attention to the:
urgency for an immediate solution of the
Cuban refugee resettlement problem:
FEBRUARY `~.,. 196$,.
HOa. DAIQ.TE $; FASCELL,
House of Representat2ves,
Was7iington, D.C.
DEAR MR. FABCELL: Thank you very much
for your Ietter of February 15. Although I
have only been on the job for a few weeks
2 have also noted a change. in the tenor of
opiuton with.. regard to the Cuban refugees.
These reports-have served to stimulate. in my
office an already existing sense of urgency
to accelerate our resettlement program. To
that end I have nist, individually and' colle~-
tively, the top ranking staff of the voluntary
agencies with whom the Government holds
contracts. for resettlement purposes.. I can
assure you that we will have their Lull sup-
port in our drive to resettle the refugees to
areas of the country other than the Miami/
Dade County area.
I hope that I wih have the opportunity of
meeting you personally to discuss my ob-
servations on this refugee prabiem and to re-
view with you my plan of approach toward
resolving it as humanly and as expeditiously
as possible.
In closing may I add my word of praise for
the generous, warmhearted,. democratic at-
titude of the people of'Dade County toward
the- Cuban refugees. It will go down in his-
tory to the book that records great deeds on
the part of people for persons caught in the
whirlpool of persecution.
Sincerely yours,.
Sox3rr F. TFrOMAa,.
D~Erector, Cuban Refugee Program.
This is. indeed encouraging informa-
tion, Mr. Speaker. 13ut again I. must
stress with. all the force of which I am
possrrssed,. the need. is. not? tomorrow, but
right. now.
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CC~I~1'C~SIdn1AL R~Ct?Yt~'-- HC3USE February 2~.-
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