ment of a successful resettlement. Their willingness to lirty jobs in order to be self-supporting, and their wish stacles of language and new customs, enhances the me part of the American community; but they hout permanent residence. eographical areas where Cuban refugees have 'milar accounts of their success in scholastic as social beings. We have families with and the highly skilled, as well as busitoward tangible goals related to their sionals and certain of the highly nd this is not possible without s, citizenship. The adolescent 1 hesitates because of the unce is particularly affected. ns place the Cuban refuadvantage. CUBAN REFUGEE PROBLEM 275 le to obtain gainful employment here in the New Jersey rect? NOR. That's right, Senator. And I suppose you are continuing your efforts e are. There is one area where there is a at So that has been relop it because make? rticular Lout gments of families arrive .ch with the relatives who were are concerned for those who have er when this will be. We have spent ing the period of separation of the unom their parents, and know that a number However, most of the families we work with plete and the process of becoming part of America en hold. Some of the young people we welcomed a go have since married and are raising their own families e-born children. From our observation, there is no thought urning to Cuba-this is and will continue to be their home. Although Cuban refugees are making a good adjustment in the United States, the knowledge that permanent status would be theirs in a given period of time would add significantly to the security they found with us. The psychological support they would derive from the knowledge that change of status is possible would reinforce their positive social adjustment. Refugee-escapees coming to the United States from other parts of the world are permitted to apply for permanent status after the 2-year-residence period; the same privilege could be extended to the Cuban refugee. Although it is possible, in some instances, to obtain visas in Canada, this presents many technical problems and is costly in terms of time and money-both to the agency and to the persons involved. The Freund family, who have accompanied us today to offer testimony relating to their resettlement experience, are able to describe their feelings as refugees. They are one of the few families who have been able to achieve permanent residence and it is not yet completed for their children. They are one of the many families who want both the privilege and the responsibility of permanent residence and citizenship. To have offered the Cuban refugees our country as a haven with us as their next-door neighbors, our help with the daily problems our schools, industry, community and recreational facilities is appropriate to their need. To withhold permanent residence and citizenship would indeed be bitter irony. Washington D.C. on March 24, 1966, I know that your committee is familiar with the work of that agency. Our agency has provided assistance to Cuban refugees since 1960, when United HIAS Service, together with the National Catholic Welfare Conference, Church World Service, and the International Rescue Committee, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, established offices in Miami. During the past 6 years we have participated in the Cuban resettlement program and in the program for unaccompanied Cuban children. The children who came to this community unaccompanied were placed with relatives or in foster homes, and have since been reunited with their parents. The Cuban families known to us have all become part of our community. They are integrated in our schools, our industry, and our social life. Our job placements are handled through another cooperating agency, the Jewish Vocational Service of Essex County, and it has been their experience that, despite early language problems, many skills are transferable, and the motivation of the Cuban group compensates for language lacks. We have with us as witnesses today Mrs. Margaret Freund and her sons, Thomas and Ricardo Freund, who are typical of our Cuban families and who will give a résumé of their background and experience. I have with me today a member of our staff who has had many years of experience and is outstanding in the handling of alien problems. She is Miss Vivian M. Barnert, who is a senior social worker, and responsible for the service-to-foreign-born program. In addition to her work with the agency, Miss Barnert is a past chairman and now vice chairman of the New York Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, and is the editor of the Quarterly Newsletter, a publication of the Northern New Jersey Immigration Conference. I have asked her to offer testimony based upon our agency's experience relating to need for legislation to permit Cuban refugees to adjust their status to that of permanent residents. I am grateful for the opportunity of appearing before your committee and want to express my thanks to you, Mr. Chairman, to our President and Congress, the State Department, Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the Cuban refugee program of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, for their interest in the Cuban refugee. Thank you very much. Senator KENNEDY. Miss Barnert. Miss BARNERT. I am Vivian M. Barnert, senior social worker, responsible for the service-to-foreign-born program of the Jewish Counseling and Service Agency. As a professional social worker, engaged in an active program of casework, technical and resettlement service for the foreign born, I have had the opportunity to work closely with a number of Cuban refugees during the past 6 years. Although a successful resettlement depends upon individual, psychological, and social factors, certain attributes characteristic of the Cuban group have emerged. Two of these attributes are strengthened perseverance and this has added to the gratification one feels when working with them and has aided in their achievement of a successful resettlement. Their willingness to take hard and dirty jobs in order to be self-supporting, and their wish to conquer the obstacles of language and new customs, enhances the opportunity to become part of the American community; but they cannot fully do so without permanent residence. In each of the many geographical areas where Cuban refugees have been resettled, there are similar accounts of their success in scholastic achievement, in industry, and as social beings. We have families with members who are professionals and the highly skilled, as well as business people, and all are working toward tangible goals related to their status and their capacity. Professionals and certain of the highly skilled need licensing to practice and this is not possible without permanent status and, in some instances, citizenship. The adolescent who must make career decisions early and hesitates because of the uncertainties of acquiring permanent residence is particularly affected. Scholarship programs available only to citizens place the Cuban refugee who is a promising college student at a disadvantage. During the past 6 years, we watched fragments of families arrive and observed that they kept in close touch with the relatives who were to follow later. We were and still are concerned for those who have not been able to leave and wonder when this will be. We have spent many anxious moments during the period of separation of the unaccompanied children from their parents, and know that a number are still not reunited. However, most of the families we work with have become complete and the process of becoming part of America has really taken hold. Some of the young people we welcomed a few years ago have since married and are raising their own families of native-born children. From our observation, there is no thought of returning to Cuba-this is and will continue to be their home. Although Cuban refugees are making a good adjustment in the United States, the knowledge that permanent status would be theirs in a given period of time would add significantly to the security they found with us. The psychological support they would derive from the knowledge that change of status is possible would reinforce their positive social adjustment. Refugee-escapees coming to the United States from other parts of the world are permitted to apply for permanent status after the 2-year-residence period; the same privilege could be extended to the Cuban refugee. Although it is possible, in some instances, to obtain visas in Canada, this presents many technical problems and is costly in terms of time and money-both to the agency and to the persons involved. The Freund family, who have accompanied us today to offer testimony relating to their resettlement experience, are able to describe their feelings as refugees. They are one of the few families who have been able to achieve permanent residence and it is not yet completed for their children. They are one of the many families who want both the privilege and the responsibility of permanent residence and citizenship. To have offered the Cuban refugees our country as a haven with us as their next-door neighbors, our help with the daily problems our schools, industry, community and recreational facilities is appropriate to their need. To withhold permanent residence and citizenship would indeed be bitter irony. Working with the foreign born has reinforced my own dedication to the service of helping people. To be able to appear before you today and present this testimony has been an opportunity for which I am most grateful. Senator KENNEDY. Mrs. Freund. Mrs. FREUND. My name is Margaret Freund. I immigrated to the United States as a Cuban refugee in August 1961. My situation may be a little different from that of most Cuban refugees known to the Jewish Counseling and Service Agency, since they have known of me since July 1946, and the same caseworker has worked with my family since that time. In 1946, my sister, who was a resident of Essex County, brought my situation to the attention of the agency. My husband and I, both born in Rumania, had hoped to immigrate to the United States after the war, to be reunited with my sister. Our relatives had all been killed by the Nazis and it was our hope to join the only relatives left in the world. However, it was not possible for us to come to the United States because of the oversubscribed Rumanian quota, and we immigrated to Cuba in 1948. Although it was difficult at first, we were able to establish ourselves there, and we became Cuban citizens, and our two children were born in Cuba in 1948 and in 1953. Despite sporadic efforts to immigrate to the United States, quota barriers stood in our way. It is not necessary to review the events which led to our refugee status, and our reunion with my sister and her family in 1961, through the generosity and help of your Government, our relatives, and the agencies-United HIAS Service and the Jewish Counseling and Service Agency. After our initial resettlement period, we began to work on obtaining permanent status and this was made possible because of our original registration dating back to January 26, 1948. This was successfully completed on December 6, 1963, when my husband and I obtained our alien registration cards and then really felt secure in our new country. Although we began applications for Canadian preview for our chil dren, we decided not to continue with this, in the hope that legislation would be passed to benefit them. However, we have since activated their applications and are now awaiting appointments with the consul. My husband and I recently purchased a small business, my older son who is with me today, and will be happy to testify, is graduating from high school and has been admitted to college; my younger son, who is also here today, is in the seventh grade. Although this has been a third country immigration for us, we have found a permanent home and know we will never have to seek a home alsewhere. Having permanent residence, however, gives us a strong feeling of attachment to a place in America. We are hopeful that one having given Cuban refugees a haven, your excellent committee will help them achieve permanent residence here. I want to thank you for inviting me to appear before you. THOMAS FREUND. I reside at 110 Montgomery Street, Highland Park, N.J., with my parents and younger brother Ricardo. I was born in Cuba, August 14, 1948, and immigrated to the United States with my parents and brother in August 1961. I entered school in September 1961 and became active in the Boy Scouts and in the Y. My brother and I continued our Hebrew here and have had part-time jobs, after school and summers. At present I am saving for college, having been admitted to Yeshiva College in New York City, in the class entering September 1966. I am interested in becoming a mathematician and expect to do graduate work after completing college. Senator KENNEDY. Could you tell me, Mr. Greenberg, there were, as I understand it, approximately 10,000 Jews in Cuba in 1960; is that about right? Mr. GREENBERG. About that. Senator KENNEDY. And now that number has been reduced to about 2,400 or 2,500? Mr. GREENBERG. 2,400, something like that. Senator KENNEDY. Have you been conscious of any kind of persecution of the Jews in Cuba, or is your organization unconscious of any of that? Mr. GREENBERG. I don't think there has been any evidence of that. Senator KENNEDY. Other than just the general totalitarian aspects of the regime? Mr. GREENBERG. Yes. Senator KENNEDY. And the difference between the 2,500 and the 10,000 are actually the Jews who have come to this country; or have gone to Curacao? Mr. GREENBERG. Most of them have come here. Senator KENNEDY. You have settled, I guess, other families as well as in this area? Mr. GREENBERG. That's right, Senator. Senator KENNEDY. And how extensive has that been? Mr. GREENBERG. Well, we spent last year $25,000 on resettling close to 20-some-odd families in various parts of the world. Most of them came from Europe, behind the Iron Curtain, those countries. Senator KENNEDY. But you welcome and you are delighted to help and try to settle families, whether they are Jewish or Catholic or Protestant; is that correct? Mr. GREENBERG. Yes, we support the resettlement of all families; we particularly have responsibility with HIAS in relation to Jewish families. Senator KENNEDY. Let me say that I am delighted to have you here, and we are honored to have you and your two sons. Which one is the best student? Mrs. FREUND. I think this one [indicating]. Senator KENNEDY. I want to say we are delighted to have you here. We appreciate it, and I think you provided useful information. I think all of the various counseling services, and voluntary agencies of the major faiths and others as well have really made an extraordinary contribution toward the resettlement of refugees, something that's not well known or appreciated, and I think it has been very, very heartwarming to see the wonderful achievements. I want to thank you very much. Our last group this afternoon will be Dr. Ansley Van Dyke of the First Presbyterian Church, Toms River, N.J., accompanied by Rev. Gilbert O. Hemsley, of the Grace Church, Union City, N.J. They have |