Mr. Chairman. passage of the Immigration and Nationality Amendments Act -H.R. 981) will go a long way toward relieving considerable anguish and hardships suffered by many Cuban refugees. Heretofore. Western Hemisphere immigrants have been granted visas on a firstcome. firstserved basis unless they have immediate relatives who are citizens of the United States. The ceiling of 120.000 in conjunction with the Cuban airlift have resulted in a waiting period of 21 months or more for all Western Hemisphere immigrants. These restrictions have divided families. many have fled to European countries for temporary refuge. particularly Spain. where they are not allowed to work and are thus forced to depend on what little financial assistance their friends or families already in this country can afford to send. Their stories are heartbreaking. In May of 1972 one of my constituents asked my help in securing visas for his relatives who had fled from Cuba. The father was the half brother of my constituents wife and did not qualify as an immediate relative. Since they could not enter the United States immediately. the family fled to Madrid.
Keywords matched
Immigration immigrants visas refugees