The Members will remember that in the Bay of Pigs incident we had sent in some people to try to recapture Cuba. Those who had been supported by President Kennedy were captured. and there were many who wanted to come out. What Congress did was not to pass a resolution from the Foreign Relations Committee to have the American troops from Guantanamo Bay go into Cuba and get them out. but instead Congress passed the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962. which was passed by the Committee on the Judiciary on which I serve now. That bill provided that there were certain refugees in the Western Hemisphere who should be brought out. "when the President determines that such assistance will contribute to the defense and the security or to the foreign policy of the United States." Congress provided funds for resettlement in other parts of Latin America. or for settlement in the United States. That is why we now have over 300.000 Cubans in Miami. Under this bill. we worked out the program with the regime of Premier Castro. and under that program it was possible for those who wanted to leave Cuba to come into the United States or to go into other countries of Latin America.
Keywords matched
Refugee refugees