Resettlement re-cap: a periodic report from the Cuban Refugee Center, November 1965

              SPONSOR CUBAN REFUGEES
Fulfill Their Faith in  Freedom
NOVEMBER 1965
RESETTLEMENT RE-CAP
FOR   ADMINISTRATIVE    USE
A PERIODIC REPORT FROM THE CUBAN REFUGEE CENTER — FREEDOM TOWER, MIAMI 32, FLORIDA
U.  S.   DEPARTMENT OF  HEALTH,  EDUCATION,  AND   WELFARE     —     WELFARE  ADMINISTRATION
U.S.  CUBAN  REFUGEE  PROGRAM JOHN FREDERICK THOMAS, Director, Washington, D. C.
HOWARD  H.   PALMATIER,  Assistant  Program   Director
MARSHALL WISE, Director of Center HARRY B.  LYFORD, Editor
COMMUNITY ACTION IN WELCOMES AND JOBS FOR CUBANS
SUPPORTS U.S. DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN POLICY
Soon after these lines are read throughout the country
the new influx of Cuban refugees is expected to be regularized by U.S. airlift arrivals in Miami and by an orderly
relay of the newcomers to relatives in states of their
earlier resettlement.
Jobs for employable persons in the arriving families are
the immediate need -- jobs and friendly community welcomes
participated in by Cubans and Americans alike.  Local planning for such hospitality is in line with U.S. national and
foreign policy.
Local religious groups are the closest contacts for persons hoping to be helpful by participating in this "national responsibility."  See your religious leader.  In larger
communities resettlement of Cuban refugees is usually
carried on by Catholic Charities, Council of Churches, Jewish Family Service, or related groups; and by representatives in some areas of the International Rescue Committee,
non-sectarian.
Offers of jobs should be made known to these groups in
your locality.  In this swift movement of refugees to Cuban
relatives already here, direct home community action is
recommended.  However, communications to the U.S. Cuban
Refugee Center, Miami, are welcomed -- for relay to the
Resettlement Agencies coordinated by the government at the
Center -- Catholic Relief Services (National Catholic Welfare Conference), Church World Service (representing 32
Protestant denominations), International Rescue Committee
(non-sectarian), and United HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid
Society.)
PLEASE CALL THIS RESETTLEMENT RE-CAP INFORMATION TO THE
ATTENTION OF YOUR FRIENDS AND LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS.
SEE INSIDE PAGES FOR MORE
A COMMUNITY WELCOME SCENE ~ TO BE
FAMILIAR AT AIRPORTS ACROSS THE NATION
Cuban relatives are pictured joining relatives in Michigan, thanks to services of the Christian Reformed World
Relief Committee, and to a courageous woman relative who
went to Cuba by small boat for them.  Left, are Onofre
Mayea (facing camera), his wife and three daughters, two
still on the plane ramp.  Right, hands extended, are
Louis Van Ess, of the Committee, and Milton Dozeman, official of the sponsoring church,Third Christian Reformed,
in Zeeland, near Grand Rapids. The relatives, not pictured, are Armando Fernandez, furniture designer, and wife,
Cubans who arrived last year.  Mr. Fernandez' sister, in
Miami, undertook the role of rescuer.  The boat trip was
to get her mother, and the Mayea family, cousins.  The
mother did not reach the boat in the time set by Cuban
officials for its departure.  There are plans for her arrival later.  The Mayeas said they were allowed to take
only two suitcases, no money or jewelry, and had to turn
over to Castro's officials all household possessions.
-- Photo Courtesy Grand Rapids (Mich.) PRESS.
JOHN W. GARDNER
calls refugee reception
"national responsibility"
— Photo Courtesy MIAMI
NEWS (By Bill Tyler)
H.E,W. SECRETARY FORESEES ORDERLY, PREDICTABLE ARRIVALS OF CUBAN REFUGEES
At a news conference in Miami November 1, John W. Gardner, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, emphasized these points:
"On October 3, the President of the United States...said to the people of Cuba that
those who seek refuge in the United States will find it, stating that this country will
be true to its tradition as an asylum for the oppressed...The federal government... and
the nation recognize (the Cuban refugee reception) is a national responsibility...This
is going to be an orderly and controlled movement of people...It will be a steadily
predictable flow of 3,000 to 4,000 refugees per month...Our first emphasis will be on
swift resettlement...The long experience of the Cuban Refugee Center will contribute to
this...In 1961 the whole resettlement program had to be built from scratch.  Today
there is a smoothly-functioning organization and a network of voluntary organizations
prepared to receive refugees.
"...Those who can be resettled immediately outside of Miami will be on their way to
resettlement points without having entered the city...The federal government will join
hands with voluntary organizations all over the country to bring to attention this
problem of the Cuban refugees...to Governors and Mayors.  We will try to make this a
nationwide effort, and if the nation puts its hands to this, there is no doubt that we
can absorb these refugees effectively...Of the 180,000 refugees registered at the Cuban
Refugee Center since February 1961, about 93,000 have been successfully resettled and
of these less than 5 percent have had to resort to public assistance.  The rest are
self-supporting...well-settled in their communities."