How the U.S. Cuban refugee program operates

              HOW THE U.S. CUBAN REFUGEE PROGRAM OPERATES
through the Cuban Refugee Center, Miami, and other facilities of tKe Program,
administered by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW),
March 1967
The U.S. Cuban Refugee Program operates in three installations at Miami, Florida:  (1) Cuban Refugee Center, Freedom Tower, 600 Biscayne Boulevard, the downtown
Program headquarters;  (2) Reception Processing Area, Building 90, or Freedom Gate,
west end of International Airport; and (3) Freedom House, a hotel-like facility just
east of Reception Area.  (In Washington, D.C, the Programfs office is in HEW's
North Building.)
The Center opened under federal administration in January 1961 after Cuban refugees had for more than a year taxed the emergency resources of Miami. Commercial
flights from Havana brought refugees, sometimes between 1,500 and 2,000 weekly, until the missile crisis of October 1962, when direct transportation from the island
ceased. Not until December 1, 1965 was there a resumption of flights, this time a
U.S. government-arranged* shuttle, made possible by an agreement with Cuba, This
airlift signaled the start of the current family reunion phase of the Cuban Refugee
Program. A new exit policy had been declared by the Cuban government in late September 1965. On October 3, 1965, President Johnson stated:  M...I declare to the
people of Cuba that those who seek refuge here will find it." And he proposed the
terms of/agreement that continues to bring from Cuba relatives to join relatives.
The agreement has reunited with their parents most of 12,000 "unaccompanied children" who were sent here by their families early in the exodus from Cuba.
ARRIVALS 3,500 TO 4,000 A MONTH
In the family reunion operation, a plane is dispatched without passengers to
Varadero Beach Airport, Cuba, twice daily five days a week, and brings to Miami fror
80 to 100 persons each flight, or between 3,500 and 4,000 refugees a month. After
leaving the plane at the International Airport refugees are transported by bus to
the nearby Refugee Reception Area, where they are seen by representatives of U.S.
services: Public Health, Customs, and Immigration and Naturalization. Then refugees register with the Cuban Refugee Program.
Since each day the majority of those who arrive plan to join relatives in othei
parts of the U.S., they are welcomed to the accommodations of nearby Freedom House
where they stay until their transportation arrangements are complete. The smaller
number of persons who join relatives in Miami stop a few minutes at Freedom House,
where their relatives await a happy reunion with them before taking them into Miami*
With resettlement of refugees a principal Program objective, the downtown Center has operated since early 1961 when the Cuban Refugee Program was set up by Presidential directive. Top responsibility has been with the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare — now John W. Gardner.
RESETTLEMENT AGENCIES ARE COORDINATED BY GOVERNMENT
On duty at the Center and in the Reception Area, in addition to the federal
staff, are representatives of Voluntary Agencies experienced in resettling refugees
to sponsors and jobs in U.S. communities * Serving under government coordination
are:
(Over)
* The U.S. Department of State has in Miami the office of the Coordinator of Cuban
Affairs, coordinating activities of certain government agencies. Since the new
exodus from Cuba involved negotiations between the U.S. and Cuba, through the
Swiss Embassy in Havana, and related matters such as airlift operations liaison,
the Coordinator's office has had a significant role in new exodus developments.