Resettlement re-cap: a periodic report from the Cuban Refugee Center, February 1964

              SPONSOR CUBAN REFUGEES
Fulfill Their Faith in Freedom
FEBRUARY 1964
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
J. ARTHUR LAZELL, Director, Refugee Center
JOHN FREDERICK THOMAS, Director, Washington, D. C.
ERROL T. BALLANFONTE, Chief, Center Operations HARRY B. LYFORD, Editor
TO HELP YOU HELP CUBAN REFUGEES TO HELP THEMSELVES: Films, to emphasize Program details to
groups; Printed matter, to circulate to potential sponsors and job providers; Exhibits, for
large meetings.  (Quick action can be expected on your written or phoned requests!)
WIDE,WONDERFUL U.S. IMPRESSES RESETTLED CUBANS  HOPES U.S. WILL SHOW ITSELF EQUAL TO ANY
AS COUNTRY OF FIRST ASYLUM
"We want to demonstrate in this program
that the U.S. stands equal to any country
in the world as a country of first asylum,
as a humanitarian refuge for those who are
exiles for conscience sake.  We want to
show that the combined efforts of the government and the voluntary agencies provide
the same successful method of solving a
refugee situation that lies within our
borders as it does in the resettlement of
refugees from abroad."
Making these statements at the annual
meeting of the Committee on Resettlement
Services, United Presbyterian Church in the
U.S.A., New York City, in late January, Cuban Refugee Program Director John F. Thomas
added:  "We are now at the point in this
refugee program where we must give a big
push to resettlement in order to complete
the job.  We in government shall do our
utmost...We must make an increased and sustained effort to move as many people as
possible to as good opportunities as possible. ..We hope to#accelerate implementation
of the agreement between Church World Service and the National Catholic Welfare Conference and, in areas where one agency
finds it difficult to locate sponsors, to
transfer cases to another agency.
Every resettlement proves a valued education to resettled Cubans,
and they, in turn, offer education to Americans by describing the
oppressions they experienced in the Castro-communist takeover of
their homeland.  Here are pictured members of the Santiago Espinosa family, ascending the steps of the Kansas state capitol at To-
peka, and finding the domed building one of the city's impressive
sights.  The Espinosas tell not only of their police state experiences but of their dangerous motor boat escape through the Florida Straits to the free shores of Key West.  Food and water supplies ran low, and they landed with only the clothes they wore.
But they reached the freedom of their dreams and gained the sponsorship and help of the First Baptist Church of Topeka. Mr. Espinosa has a job and the children, busy perfecting their English,
are already inspiring an interest in wider language study among
fellow pupils in Topeka schools.  (Photo Courtesy Topeka CAPITAL.)
"We shall continue to explore every means of preparing refugees to take advantage of opportunities. . .Our objective is to complete the bulk of resettlement work by the end of the
summer. By then we look forward to a substantial increase in the number of refugees who are
self-supporting in communities throughout the nation and toward a substantial reduction in
the need for federal assistance in Miami...Opportunities for self-support must be provided
quickly if we are to avoid in Miami the development of a chronic state of dependency and
serious loss of self-esteem by a great many families, and serious loss of useful skills and
potential contributions to the U.S."
GOVERNORS ACTIVE; MASSACHUSETTS, NEW MEXICO, PENNSYLVANIA, MINNESOTA REPORT
Governors continue active in support of the Cuban Refugee Program. Reports include these:
MASSACHUSETTS - At a meeting of Gov. Endicott Peabody1s Commission on Refugees, decision
was to continue active interest in Cubans by setting a quota of 500 cases for 1964. Chairman Walter H. Bieringer believes the hospitality of his state to Cubans exceeds that indicated by the Center's resettlement figures, since many have come into Massachusetts from
first resettlement in other states, or "on their own" from Miami.  Cuban Refugee Program
(See Page 2 For Conclusion)