Speech #890315011

Mr. Speaker. I urge adoption of the conference report on H.R. 15183. the Cuban refugee bill. with some reluctance. I have no quarrel with the basic humanitarian objective of this bill. Passage of this bill will ameliorate the plight of thousands of Cubans who find it difficult to obtain suitable employment or who are unable to travel outside the United States because of the indefinite nature of their status as refugees or financial disability. Under present law to attain permanent resident status they must leave the United States. apply at a U.S. consular office in another country for an immigrant visa and reenter the United States. This procedure is designed to prevent visitors from misusing their nonimmigrant admission to gain admittance ahead of those applying for immigrant visas in the regular manner in their native countries. However. the Cuban refugees obviously are unable to apply in Cuba for a visa since we have no U.S. consulate there. The trip abroad to Canada or Mexico after arrival in Florida as refugees is costly and unreasonably burdensome for those who have been stripped of their property by the Communist Cuban Government. Since only a small proportion of the refugees have been able to finance a trip abroad for reentry as immigrants. the result has been that a considerable number have been forced to take employment in lower paying jobs than those for which their training and experience qualify them. This is so because permanent resident or citizenship status is often a requirement for practice of a professionmedicine. dentistry. law. teaching. accounting. and so forth. As an example. 1.700 Cuban doctors have come to this country in the refugee influx. Many of these highly skilled persons have been with us for a period of 3 to 4 years. They cannot enter their chosen fields of work. with rare exceptions. and they just cannot qualify in the majority of our States for the required licenses or certificates due to the lack of permanent immigration status. As a result of this situation one finds these trained people working as parking lot attendants. bus boys. and in other menial services. Our country is the loser for we could well use these skills particularly in the field of medicine.