To deny them this opportunity. to cut off their escape after they have acted in reliance of our promise. would serve notice to all peoples that we do not honor our commitments. An amendment to cut off these funds would leave in an untenable position thousands of Cubans who have chosen freedom over repression and have jeopardized their lives in Cuba by doing so. When the airlift was originally devised. it was believed that the refugees would disperse throughout the country. Like other previous immigrants. however. these people are more comfortable among their own people and. like previous immigrants. it is not likely that their first generation will disperse. Thus. four States. New York. New Jersey. California. and Illinois. bear the brunt of 82 percent of refugees who resettle in the 15 States which have the greatest number of resettlers. The experience of my own State of New Jersey and the two communities which receive the greatest number of refugees may indicate the effect of a sudden refugee settlement into a community. The greatest impact is upon the school system. As for welfare expenses. our experience in Hudson County has been that most Cubans who do apply for welfare are only on the rolls for an average of 6 months. and thereafter. probably because of skills developed in Cuba. become selfsufficient and do not reapply. Nevertheless. because of the continual inflow and the long time it takes for their taxes to pay for community services. there is a substantial drain on the local community which the Federal Government has a duty to offset. Refugees have settled in our communities at an increasing rate. They bring with them more children who must be educated. In the school systems of the two communities. more than 50 percent of the 1 pupils are of Spanish origin and most of them are Cuban refugees. Some of the children are totally illiterate. I understand. for example. that in the September 1969 enrollment alone. several * hundred Cuban refugees were registered for school. One child. 11 years of age. was illiterate not only in the English language. but the Spanish language as well. Some classes. which are largecomposed of about 35 to 40 studentshave children who are mostly of Cuban origin. Moreover. in the past few months the enrollment of children of Cuban refugees has steadily increased rather than leveled off. and projections indicate a continued increase. In 196566. the total population in our public schools was 11.752. In 196970. it is already 14.757. and we estimate that there will be almost 16.000 children in the schools of Union City and West New York by the end of the school year. This represents an increase of more than 4.000 for botn communities in 5 years. During this same period 6.363 children of Cuban refugees came to our schools. In the first year they only represented 17.3 percent of the total school population. Now 45.4 percent of the children in our communities are from Cuba. For every Americanborn child in the public schools. there is a Cuban refugee child sitting next to him in the classrooms. Overcrowding is the order of the day. These two communities. as well as others throughout the United States. want to meet their obligations. They understand that so long as these people are here. it is in the public interest that they be educated rather than becoming a possible drain on the community. It is to the national benefit to provide the resources and the opportunity for the poor and oppressed. whether indigenous Americans. immigrants. or refugees. to live independent lives and maintain a decent standard of living.
Identified stereotypes
Like other previous immigrants, these people are more comfortable among their own people and, like previous immigrants, it is not likely that their first generation will disperse.