ties or into Hudson County. Those in Hudson County, for some reason, seem to stay there, but those who go into the suburbs eventually wind up back in Newark because we do have quite a colony of Cuban and Spanish-speaking people in certain sections of the city.

Senator KENNEDY. But you are not conscious of any difficulty? Mayor ADDONIZIO. There has been no discrimination, Senator, if that's what you are concerned about.

Senator KENNEDY. Either with regard to jobs or housing?

Mayor ADDONIZIO. Not to my knowledge. I think that they have been readily accepted.

Senator KENNEDY. I want to thank you very much, Mayor, for taking the time and appearing here today.

Mayor ADDONIZIO. Thank you, Senator.

Senator KENNEDY. Our next witness this morning is Mayor Thomas Dunn of Elizabeth, who has served as mayor for the past 15 months. Prior to that he served for 6 years as a freeholder, as well as councilman from this district for 5 years. Mayor Dunn.

Mayor DUNN. Thank you, Senator. I want to thank you for the opportunity to testify before your subcommittee and to tell you what our picture is in the city of Elizabeth as it relates to Cuban refugees. I would like to give you a little background first of our city.

The historic city of Elizabeth, N.J., has long been a melting pot of nationalities and cultures. It is a historical fact that members of Henry Hudson's crew were the first Europeans to have set eyes on Elizabeth. Five mariners became awed by the expanse of Newark Bay, and before turning back they sighted the land on which Elizabeth was to rise two centuries later. Dutch settlers followed in the wake of Henry Hudson but because of unfriendly Indians did little to colonize this area. This was left to the English. In the fall of 1664, colonists arrived from Connecticut and Long Island, and a year later Capt. Philip Carteret renamed the colony, Elizabethtown, in honor of Lady Elizabeth Carteret, wife of his cousin, Sir George Carteret. For the next century, Elizabethtown grew peacefully and developed into a seat of culture from which the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University, was established.

Following the Revolutionary War, the town emerged as one of the young country's most valuable transportation centers. The chartering of the Elizabethtown and Sommerville Rail Road Co. in 1830 set the stage for Elizabeth's industrial development. Shipbuilding was also an important industry during the late 19th century and Elizabeth had its share of the market. Industrial development and seaport facilities were the two main attractions for settlement by thousands fleeing other lands because of political or religious oppression, opportunity for financial betterment, or for the many other reasons that gave promise that "America truly was the promised land"-and Elizabeth, N.J., was the first stop.

Much has happened since Philip Carteret first set foot on the land that today, with a population exceeding 112,000, Elizabeth is the county seat of Union County. Elizabeth's citizens have forged a community that can boast of an excellent school system, outstanding recreation programs for young and old alike, bustling industry and high employment, expansive transportation facilities and an unrivaled marine terminal.

They can take deep pride in the stature and achievements of their native sons who occupy key positions in commerce, industry, government, and the professions. Among the many greats who called Elizabeth their home were General Winfield Scott, commander in chief of the U.S. Army during the Mexican War; Nicholas Murray Butler, a distinguished educator and president of Columbia University; Fleet Admiral William F. "Bull" Halsey, one of America's greatest naval heroes; and James P. Mitchell, Secretary of Labor under President Dwight Eisenhower. There are many more, extending from the Halls of Congress to the rocket sites of Cape Kennedy.

Our city's great came from the "melting pot" of a community that has been friendly, helpful, and tolerant to all who have made Elizabeth their home. Brotherhood and understanding have been the keys to success of this community for 300 years. Not only do we in Elizabeth preach, but we practice that we welcome to our midsts anyone and everyone who flees oppresssion and genuinely expresses a desire to participate in the American way of life.

Elizabeth has had a Cuban community since 1850. In 1885, Jose Marti, Cuba's George Washington, came to Elizabeth and established patriotic and fraternal societies. Cubans from Elizabeth participated in the War for Independence of 1890-1899 which led to the freedom of Cuba from Spanish colonial domination. After World War I, many Cubans, veterans of World War I, migrated to Elizabeth. In the 1940's and 1950's, Elizabeth's Cuban community doubled. From 1957 on, each year has seen an influx of Cubans into our city. Cubans and other Spanish-speaking peoples have been an asset to our community in every way. They have a culture to be proud of. They are religious, civic-minded, patriotic, and industrious. They quickly settle with little fuss and seldom get involved with the law. They are proud people and make good Americans.

Late in 1965, newspaper headlines told of Castro's gesture to release thousands of Cubans. All kinds of predictions were made as to the actual number who would come to our shores and how many would actually settle in Elizabeth, N.J.

Guesses ranged from 500 to 10,000, or more. Local newspaper headlines predicting 6,000 for Elizabeth scared many Elizabethansincluding its mayor-not a scare predicated on ill-welcome, but a genuine fear that our city would not in time be adaquately prepared to furnish proper housing, school facilities, and employment for so many so quickly.

However, all forces were put to work to meet the challenge. On a municipal level, as mayor, I alerted our school administrators, public housing authority, our director of health, welfare, and housing and any and all agencies that might lend a helping hand. In order to get firsthand information on the overall migration picture as it would affect Elizabeth, I contacted the Honorable Florence P. Dwyer of the Sixth Congressional District.

After lengthy discussions with the staff adviser to the Cuban refugee program in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Mrs. Dwyer reported to me:

(1) There were in Elizabeth at that time (October 1965) 2,000 Cuban refugees, 1,300 of whom came with some participation by the Federal Government.

65-505-66-pt. 3

(2) Even though 5,000 applications from Elizabeth for Cuban relatives had been filed, the Federal Government did not believe that this many would actually come to Elizabeth, but that should that many ever migrate to our city, it would be over a period of 2 to 3 years.

(3) That the United States was trying to work out an agreement with Castro for an orderly processing with adequate time for necessary preparations.

(4) That the key people in resettling Cuban refugees would be the voluntary agencies, chiefly the religious groups such as Catholic Relief Service and similar groups within Protestant and Jewish circles.

(5) That Congress had authorized and appropriated funds to pay all welfare costs of Cuban refugees with no State, county, or local costs involved. In addition, the county welfare agency and U.S. Employment Service would provide assistance on job hunting and other phases of orienting refugees to their new homes.

(6) It was apparent that families already here would provide major assistance, such as doubling up to make room and food available, help relatives find jobs, etc.

(7) There was no need at that time for meetings between local and Federal agencies to confer on the situation.

(8) But, should the burden become severe, the Federal Government had authorized to provide other help to communities including paying 50 percent of the cost of education for children of refugees in public schools. Such children would have to comprise over 3 percent of school enrollment and parents must be on relief to be counted.

In closing her communication, Congresswoman Dwyer pledged to cooperate in every way to ease burdens on refugees and on the community of Elizabeth.

In addition to Mrs. Dwyer's report that Elizabeth would not be faced with an influx of many thousands of Cuban refugees in a short period of time, Antonio A. Micocci, staff adviser of the Cuban refugee program, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, said in an exclusive interview with the Daily Journal:

I have been in receipt of all different reactions that have surfaced in Washington. Certain communities have felt they would be swamped, but nobody's going to be swamped.

Mr. Micocci pointed out that Federal records showed that 1,300 Cuban refugees have resettled in Elizabeth in the last 5 years and that he estimated about 50 percent more could be counted on to arrive in Elizabeth, bringing a total figure around the 2,000 mark. But this figure was one-third of the number estimated by Cuban leaders in our city.

While city agencies, including our human relations commission and antipoverty corporation, were springing into action to aid whatever number did arrive, private organizations such as the New Jersey Cuban Emergency Committee, the New Jersey Home Peace Corps, El Clarin, New Jersey's weekly Spanish newspaper and other agencies went into full gear.

During the summer of 1965, Elizabeth's Cuban community through the joint efforts of Cuban business, civic, and political organizations began orgainizing what already had become a strong united community to meet the needs of new Cubans arriving from Cuba, Spain, and

Mexico. The El Clarin newspaper, represented here today by Mr. Antonio Ibarria, owner, and Mr. Raul Comesanas set up an orientation center at the paper's office.

Almost immediately, the center's staff was flooded with requests for applications that would lead to the bringing to Elizabeth of hundreds of friends and relatives of Cubans already here. Concrete indications were that based on applications and other signs of interest, it was feared that the quick influx of new Cubans to Elizabeth would far exceed estimates of Federal authorities. According to Mr. Comesanas, who had traveled to Washington and Miami to get as much information as was available, by October 14, 1965, 19,416 Cubans had applied for entry, of which 5,146 were headed for Elizabeth. Some of the problems faced by the private Cuban relief groups in the first days

were:

(1) Immigration authorities had little or no factual information as to just how many Cubans could be expected to come to the United States.

(2) Many misguided Elizabethans headed for Florida thinking they could aid in getting relatives to the United States quicker. This created hardship on Florida authorities as well as on the travelers themselves.

(3) False rumors and erroneous information spread throughout the Spanish-speaking communities leading to tremendous misunderstand

ings.

(4) Applications for entry were being sold by unscrupulous people to unwary Cubans here in the area.

(5) Because of duplication in applications by relatives not knowing that another member of the same family applied, much chaos in processing occurred.

(6) Broadcasting by Spanish-speaking radio stations was often erroneous and misleading.

However, despite all the difficulty resulting from lack of concrete information, coordination of effort, and so forth, the city of Elizabeth has been able, to date, to measure up to the task it faced in welcoming its new citizens. The problem has not been as severe as earlier expected. At the present time, the public schools have not been burdened with Cuban refugees. As a matter of fact, only 32 Cuban children registered between January 1 and March 1. However, it can be assumed that many Spanish speaking children have entered nonpublic schools and some figures would be needed from nonpublic schools to get a more accurate picture of the overall impact.

I would at this point strongly recommend to this subcommittee that a request should be made to the Federal Government for a census of Cuban refugees in the Elizabeth area and a more accurate estimate as to the intended influx of Cuban refugees, so that we may better prepare our schools, welfare services, and our social agencies to anticipate and provide for any intended influx.

Perhaps the major problem with regard to the resettlement of Cuban refugees in the city of Elizabeth is the great discrepancy in estimating the problem between the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and the local Cuban refugee committee.

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, let me report that the city of Elizabeth welcomes Cuban refugees. The influx to date on our community has

not strained our resources. We doubt that it ever will. Should it at some future time, however, we will call upon the Federal Government for additional assistance.

Few Cubans have been on city relief rolls and these but for a short period of time. All we ask is that we be kept fully informed as to the degree of migration to our boundaries, so that we can prepare ourselves to more warmly welcome our new citizens and to provide them with the necessities of life in such a way that they will have no regrets on their leaving a totalitarian state.

Senator KENNEDY. Mr. Mayor, that's a very excellent statement of what the situation has been. We appreciate your interest in what can be expected in the future. Our figures here today show that as of December 31, 1965, there are some 1,379 Cubans who have been settled in Elizabeth, and that that number has probably been increased by 200, at least, in the last few months. Would you elaborate to some extent on what services are being provided by the city to help settle the Cubans?

Mayor DUNN. About 13 percent of our population are Spanish speaking; therefore, we have more or less been alert to this problem for some time. Our curriculum in the public school system has been geared to handle the language situation. We have handled training programs both day and night in our school system. We are, as the Governor mentioned earlier, setting up a family orientation counseling service in our school system.

In addition to that, we have a human relations commission, on which many Spanish speaking people serve. We have a very active executive director, Mr. Hubert Barber, who handles the human relations.

Senator KENNEDY. What has been the experience of the human relations commission with regards to acts of discrimination against Cubans?

Mayor DUNN. Well, it has been extremely successful as a commission, and quite honestly, there haven't been any charges that I know of of discrimination against Cubans or Spanish speaking people. We are fortunate in the fact that we are an industrial town, and there is little difficulty in being placed in our industrial plants.

Senator KENNEDY. Now, you mentioned in response to a question, the fact that the schools of Elizabeth have made special provisions in recognizing the 13-odd percent of the Spanish speaking people. I am wondering if you can comment on whether, first of all, the city tries to settle the Cubans in areas where there are already in existence Spanish speaking people. Do you make a conscious effort to do that? And if so, I would imagine that the principal Spanish speaking group would be Puerto Ricans. Would you comment on whether the Cubans and Puerto Ricans have been able to make this adjustment?

Mayor DUNN. Well, by and large, the greater number of Spanish speaking people in Elizabeth are Puerto Ricans, and there is absolutely no conflict that I know of or that I have observed between these two groups, any more than there is a conflict with the large Negro population that we have. It would seem, as in the case of any ethnic group migrating to a foreign shore, that there is safety in numbers, I suppose, so most of the Cubans, Puerto Ricans have settled in what is known as the Elizabethport section of the city of Elizabeth, and so far there is no problem whatsoever.