Thousands of Nicaraguans have found refuge In Honduras and Costa Rica. These days Nicaraguans who are "voting with their feet" have made their way further north into the United States. The number of new asylum cases filed by Nicaraguans nearly doubled during 1987. the same year Congress refused to continue military aid to the Nicaraguan Freedom Fighters. In the last 6 months of 1988. 50 percent of the total number of Central Americans seeking asylum were Nicaraguans. The message is clear. Nicaraguan refugees are fleeing from a Marxist government whose totalitarian policies repress individuals of their right to the most basic economic. religious. and political freedoms. The latest flow of Nicaraguans was a direct result of congressional action in the last session of Congress to discontinue military aid to the Nicaraguan Freedom Fighters. The Congress had a clear choice then: to provide the Nicaraguan freedom fighters with sufficient military aid to fight Communist Sandinista policies or to pay the price later when Nicaraguans would be forced out of their country in search of basic human freedoms. Now. local communities throughout the United States are paying the price for the Congress failed Central American policy. The south Florida community has embraced thousands of Nicaraguans providing food. temporary shelter. and the understanding of sympathetic Latin Americans who may have experienced similar situations in their lifetimes. Florida taxpayers have already paid millions of dollars in basic services for the latest flow of Nicaraguan refugees. Costs are expected to exceed $100 million. The list of expenditures is endless: Cost estimates for Florida in health care. police. corrections and rehabilitation services are as high as $21 million over 12 months.
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seeking asylum asylum cases refugees