United HIAS Setvice. Church World Service. and the International Rescue Committee. By December 1. 1965. nearly 100.000 of the 185.000 registered refugees had been moved to some 3.000 communities in every State of the Union. including Alaska. This action. based on the generosity of the American people working through their churches. synagogues and community groups. relieved Miami of what could have been a serious conflict of ethnic groups and reduced the financial assistance program in Miami from 67.000 persons to less than 14.000. On September 28. 1965. Fidel Castro announced that he would permit any person who wished to leave Cuba to do so. President Johnson. in signing the new immigration legislation on October 3. 1965. stated that the United States would hold to its traditional position and grant asylum to anyone who sought it. In November. the Swiss Embassy. acting on behalf of the United States. completed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Cuban government which calls for the orderly movement of Cubans to the United States on the basis of family reunion. Flights were commenced on December 1. 1965. and to date some 20.000 Cuban refugees have arrived in Miami on the current airlift. These refugees are processed by our immigration service. registered by the Cuban Refugee Program and counseled by representatives of the four voluntary agencies working with the Program. About 73 per cent of those registered by the Program move out of Miami to rejoin family members in other parts of the country. This is one of the few times in history where a communist country permits an orderly flow of its citizens to escape to a socalled capitalistic country.
Keywords matched
immigration Refugee refugees