Speech #930023857

Speaker. another cherished American freedom. the right of political asylum. may be destined to be discarded on the same trash heap as so many other rights and freedoms we Americans once cherished. Oppressed people throughout the world have for generations looked toward this country for sanctuary when tyranny threatened them in their native lands. Political refugees who seek to find in America their last hope for liberty have been sold out by the Department of State. The most recent incident involves two Cuban fishermen who seized control of their fishing vessel March 8 in an effort to flee the Communist stranglehold on their country. Their taste of freedom was short lived. however. when the Immigration and Naturalization Service ordered them deported last week. The INS cited the "spirit" of the recent antihijacking agreement between the United States and Cuba. Apparently. three two young men are to be sacrificed as a "show of good faith" to Castro. More than half a million of their antiCommunist countrymen have sought refuge in the United States since Castro came to power in 1959. Small boats and makeshift contrivances have been used by more than 14.000 Cubans to make the 90mile voyage from the dictatorship. Not one Cuban political refugee has been refused entry into the United States or deported until now. This dangerous trend toward closing the door to Cuban asylum actually began last year when a similar case involving the commandeering of another craft by three Cubans seeking escape from their island prison came to light. These men were ordered back to Cuba because of a legal technicalitythey lacked the proper immigrant visa. When a person is fleeing for his life. he can hardly be expected to take time to make the necessary bureaucratic documentation. No intelligent person would condone terrorists hijackings of aircraft or boats for political blackmail or other extortion. And it was hoped that the antihijacking agreement with Cuba would be a step toward preventing them. This agreement is clear in its protection of asylum rights for political refugees. It should be noted that this document is not a treaty. ratified in accordance with the constitution. Article IV of the February 15 accord states: The party into whose territory the perpetrators of the acts described in Article I (hijacking of air or maritime craft) arrive may take into consideration any attenuating or mitigating circumstances in cases where in the persons responsible for said acts find themselves persecuted for purely political reasons. or in actual or imminent danger of death and without any other viable means of abandoning their country. so long as no economic extortion or physical injury to the crews. passengers or other persons is involved in the abduction. Fear that the agreement would endanger the haven Cuban refugees now find in the United States was expressed soon after the announcement of the signing by Dr. Manolo Reyes. wellknown Cuban exile. Dr. Reyes reservations were well founded. In the February 20. 1973 edition of Diario Las Amercas he writes: It is important that its (the antihijacking agreement) points be clarified. because the treaty is vague. ambiguous and contradictory. and represents a danger to Cuban refugees fleeing by boat across the Florida Straits. Furthermore. as we are dealing with a Cuban affair which Cuban exiles must consider odious. we must request Congressmen and Senators that respect Cuban interests to look into this matter. The actions of the State Department are clear.