Speech #960289904

D.C. DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: I am writing pursuant to our previous correspondence on your decision to exercise the emergency provisions of The Refugee Act of 1980 (P.L. 96212). to deal with the Cuban refugee problem as it had developed as of April 14th. Also. I want to reiterate my recommendations as to how government should proceed in dealing with the escalating problems among both Cuban and Haitian refugees. First. I believe it is essential that we bring some order to the choas that has surrounded the flow of Cuban refugees to the United States. I believe It is imperative to negotiate a comprehensive agreement on orderly departure with the Cuban government and to press other nations to receive their fair share of refugees for final resettlement. As you probably know. we reviewed these issues in some detail with your representatives during Judiciary Committee hearings on May 12th but serious questions remain and hard decisions have been postponed. The immigration status of Cubans and Haitans who are already in the United States is unresolved. And the issue of federal support for State. local and voluntary agencies helping the refugees has been avoided. Relative to Cubans. I have repeatedly urged your Administration to utilize. on a casebycase basis. the emergency provisions of The Refugee Act of 1980. In statements on April 16th and 17th--during the first Judiciary Committee hearing and consultation under the terms of the new ActI strongly supportea your April 14th decision to use the emergency provisions (Section 207(b)) of the Refugee Act to respond to the plight of Cubans in the Peruvian Embassy in Havana. Following your Executive Order. the Judiciary Committee immediately arranged for expeditious consultations to consider the proposed admission of 3.500 Cubansas well as other refugees previously scheduled for admission to the United States for the remainder of fiscal year 1980. On April 25th. Senator Thurmond and I wrote to you on behalf of the Committee. supporting your proposals and agreeing that the admission of Cubans met the test of Section 207(b) of the Refugee Act. which states: If the President determines. after appropriate consultation. that (1) an unforeseen emergency refugee situation exists. (2) the admission of certain refugees in response to the emergency refugee situation is justified by grave humanitarian concerns or Is otherwise in the national interest. and (3) the admission to the United States of these refugees cannot be accomplished under subsection (a). the President may fix a number of refugees to be admitted to the United States during the succeeding period (not to exceed 12 months) ... However. during this period of consultation on your original request for Cuban admissions. the situation in Havana changed. Instead of being able to process Cubans at the Peruvian Embassy in Havana. or in Costa Rica as originally planned. the Cuban government halted the airlift to Costa Rica and stimulated a massive sealift of Cubans to the United States. It is my view that these developments did not create a new refugee situation under the terms of The Refugee Act. rather. they created a changed refugee situation. Cubans flowing out of Havana subsequent to April 14th are part of a single foreign refugee situation which you properly deemed "an unforeseen emergency refugee situation." for which their admission was "justified by grave humanitarian concerns" and "otherwise in the national Interest." These changed circumstances should have been dealt with by simply amending your Executive Order of April 14th. and consulting again with the Judiciary Committees. However. your representatives. particularly Ambassador Palmieri. United States Coordinator for Refugee Affairs. have refused to take this course. They have repeatedly asserted that Congress never intended that the provisions of the Refugee Act should accommodate large numbers of refugees arriving directly to our shores. This is correct in terms of the asylum provisions of Section 208 of the Act. This section was added to adjust only 5.000 asylum cases each year. for persons already in the United States who are unable to return to their native countries because of a wellfounded fear of persecution. as defined in the law. But the current Cuban refugee flow was initiated under Section 207 of the Act. It was judged to be a foreign refugee situation. and although the modalities of the movement have shifted. and refugees are arriving directly on our shores. it remains a foreign refugee situation. (A similar situation would arise if Vietnamese "boat people" reached Guam or Hawaii--as was considered likely in 1978. Surely they could be treated as refugees under the Indochinese refugee program. as authorized under Section 207 of the Act. Indeed. contingency plans were developed in 1978 to accept Vietnamese refugees reaching our shores the same way we have urged Malaysia or Hong Kong to accept themby providing safehaven under the auspices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees until third country resettlement opportunities can be arranged. either in the United States or elsewhere.) In no case. however. does this mean the United States must take all who reach our shores. even if they are bona fide refugees under the United Nations Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. Rather. we are required only to provide safehaven until such refugees are either admitted to the United States. under the terms and conditions we established pursuant to the provisions of the Refugee Act. or until the UNHCR can find third country resettlement opportunities or facilitate voluntary repatriation. I would agree that simply because a Vietnamese boat arrives in the United Statesor a Cuban boatwe are not required to resettle such individuals. even though we may have already established a general refugee admission program for Vietnamese (or Cubans) under the terms of Section 207 of the Refugee Act. What it does mean. however. is that if we choose to do so. we can use this legislation to respond effectively to such refugees and give full and prompt assistance to the communities which receive the refugees. The Congress passed the Refugee Act so as to avoid treating each new refugee situation on an ad hoc basis. requiring new authorities to deal wth it. It is precisely this flexibility which is missine in the current approach to handling the Cuban refugee problem. And it is this that prompted my deep concern at the May 12th hearingmy concern that if we fail to use the Refugee Act now. with the flexibility and scope for which it was intended. we will likely compromise its future use just as it has been signed into law. I would hope that you will see both the wisdom and benefits of using the Refugee Act to handle those Cubans who are already here and who meet. on a casebycase basis. the criteria and screening we establish to judge their eligibility for resettlementjust as we establish criteria and screening for other refugee programs authorized under Section 207 of the Act. By amending your Executive Order of April 14th and consulting again on a second. more realistic ceiling for the admission of Cuban refugees. you can utilize the tools made available by the Refugee Act. Finally. with regard to Haitians already in the United States. I urge you again to direct the AttorneyGeneral to use available authorities under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. as amended. to dispense with all pending Haitian cases and to Institute fair procedures to handle future Haitian cases under the terms of the Refugee Act. If we do not act now to use the parole authority to resolve the Haitian cases. we will allow this tragic legacy of past injustice and discrimination to continue into the future. poisoning our ability to treat all new arrivals fairly. We must also take diplomatic action. in concert with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other Hemispheric nationsto determine whether Haitians leaving their country are. as a class. fleeing a wellfounded fear of persecution. or whether only individual cases should be processed under the asylum provisions of the new law. Only such a concerted and highlevel effcrt can lay to rest the concerns of many Americans that the Haitian situation is not being taken seriously. and that Haitian refugees are not being treated fairly. On both the Cuban and Haitian refugee situations. I urge you to direct your representatives to consult with the Judiciary Committees of the Congress and to develop reasonable alternatives to the current unacceptable situation. You have my strong support In any endeavor to treat refugees humanely and generously. consistent with our laws and our traditions. Many thanks for your consideration. and best wishes. Sincerely.