Speech #960300374

Sheriff Ray Harris. of Monroe County. expressed concern over the volatile situation in his community created by the fears local residents have over the large number of "fence jumpers" and the markedly increased number of unsolved local burglariesin which only the necessities of life. that is. food and drink were takenthey believe the fence jumpers are responsible. Sheriff Harris explained that the residents of Monroe County are arming themselves at an unprecedented rate and he is worried that innocent people. either Cubans or local residents. may be accidentally shot. He cited an example where a person. who was not a refugee. was shot at while running across a field and he expressed the fear that similar incidents may occur. There is also resentment among local residents over the property stolen or damaged by fence jumpers. The State Department officials at Fort McCoy should have been prepared from the beginning to work with area residents to ease tensions on this score and to help them seek compensation for their losses through official channels. A community relations program by the Federal Government could. in my opinion. alleviate some of these fears and tensions among the residents of areas surrounding Fort McCoy and other refugee compounds. The problem of cooperation between local law enforcement officers. INS officials. the military and U.S. marshals is crucial because of the lack of adequate INS personnel responsible for returning the escapees to Fort McCoy compound which leads to my fourth recommendation for more INS personnel there. The majority of the refugees remaining at Fort McCoy have criminal records and need closer supervision than normal refugees. The insufficiency of the number of INS officers at the compound becomes more evident when considering it is their responsibility to handle disturbances. return fence jumpers. and patrol compound 800. where as many as 75 undesirable refugees with violent criminal backgrounds are detained while awaiting transfer to the Federal prisons in Fort Leavenworth or Atlanta. When I visited compcund 800. the head INS officer. John Bailey. stated that on one occasion he was very happy that. by chance. the National Guard helped security by merely conducting maneuvers near the compound. Nevertheless. during one 3day period. 14 refugees escaped from this compound and some are still at large. Mr. Bailey also reported the staff problem is exacerbated in part by the employment contract that covers INS officers.