Resettlement re-cap: a periodic report from the Cuban Refugee Center, November 1963

              SPONSOR CUBAN REFUGEES
Fulfill Their Faith in Freedom
RESETTLEMENT RE-CAP
FOR ADMINISTRATIVE USE
NOVEMBER 1963
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
CUBAN REFUGEES WILL APPRECIATE --
Your joining them in offering prayers of thankfulness for their escape
from the oppressions of communism, AND your action -- and that of your
community -- for arranging refugee sponsorships and job opportunities.
Your recognition of their plight and of their desire only for the help
that permits them to help themselves.  Sponsorships and job opportunities are in the spirit of this season of remembrance and giving.
At Thanksgiving;
At Christmas:
RESETTLEMENT OF 70,000th HIGHLIGHTED BY INTERESTING GROUP COOPERATION
The 70,000 mark has been passed in resettlements from the Cuban Refugee
Center.  Pictured is No. 70,000 — Jose Estevez, his wife, Ernestina, son,
Jose L. (Pepe), and daughter, Silvia.  They have gone to Albany, N.Y., under
auspices of the International Rescue Committee, the non-sectarian resettlement agency.  But their sponsorship is by the Westminster Presbyterian
Church, Albany.  And the family is Catholic.  The resettlement is cited as
another example of group cooperation making successful the Cuban Refugee
Program.  The family is free' to attend the church of their choice. Mr. Estevez had government experience in Cuba.  Both he and his wife looked forward to motel staff interviews in Albany. A well-equipped apartment awaited
their arrival.
THE SCORE
REFUGEES REGISTERED
Week ending November 1       91
Since January 1961   169,047
REFUGEES RESETTLED
Week ending November 1   170
Since January 1961   70,384
Weekly average, last 8 weeks .. 374
By Agencies since January 1961:
Registered Resettled
NCWC  114,437    40,832
IRC   37,008    14,993
CWS   14,226    12,548
HIAS   3,376     2,011
(See Page 2 - "How About A 'Standby'
Basis For Sponsoring Plans?")
16 BOATS DESPITE HURRICANE THREATS
Despite hurricane threats, 16 small
boats brought 155 Cuban refugees to Florida during October — 96 men, 32 women
and 27 children. Thus the total of small
boats since June 1961 mounts to 612, and
the number of boat escapees to 5,684.
PROGRAM DIRECTOR SPEAKS OF POLICY TO HELP CUBANS HELP THEMSELVES
Why does the federal government support so strongly the policy of resettlement of Cuban
exiles away from Miami?
John F. Thomas, Director of the Cuban Refugee Program, speaking recently to Cuban physicians who finished the sixth special post-graduate course in medicine offered by the University of Miami, gave an answer when he mentioned training courses "for the benefit of the
Cuban guests who are here." He explained that in using the word "benefit11 he speaks of a
two-way street.
"While it may be true that each of you and your thousands of colleagues who receive
training may benefit from it, we proudly point out that the United States benefits from
having you with us," Mr. Thomas said.  Government policy, he added, moves against "the
thought of 60,000 good and proud people being obliged to accept public assistance, being
made satisfied with the idleness that goes hand in hand with unemployment, being the victims of a gradual loss of self-respect, of deterioration of family life, and of a general
(Concluded on Page 2)