THE BATTALION Page 11
FRIDAY, MAY 2, 1980
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Tkiba boat checks tightened
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Screening against suspected criminals begun
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United Press International
KEY WEST, Fla. — Federal au-
horities toughened the screening of
'uban refugees Thursday to block
he arrival of suspected criminals
's faini anong those reaching Key West in
gas pral he sealift from Cuba.
Some of the latest arrivals spent
bur hours sitting on a dock while
id proU mmigration and Naturalization Ser-
inspectors quizzed members of
he group of 500. Women and chil-
ajorinti | ren we re separated and quickly
5 an ) do jessed, but the men were de-
andini jy e d.
f an y 1 Male refugees were marched four
icUiiij ^gast t 0 Key West’s old Coast
Wl®!uard station, where the question-
was done.
A high ranking U.S. immigration
icial disclosed Wednesday at least
il suspected criminals, some of
vhom may be murderers, have been
bund among the more than 5,000
I efagees arriving aboard the sealift
cross the Florida Straits.
“We’re stiffening up the screening
irocedure since we began to notice
his problem (of criminals among the
offlciil
iitealil
refugees),” said INS inspector Keith
Wilson.
Wilson, who was brought to Key
West from Miami, where he has
been handling flights from Havana at
Miami International Airport, said,
‘Castro’s been dumping people on
us for some time.”
Federal authorities said several
suspicious persons were found
among the 500, but declined to say
whether they were being detained.
A U.S. Border Patrol prisoner van
was parked outside the screening
area.
Immigration officers said they be
gan interviewing “suspicious” arriv
als this week when other refugees
reported some of the people
reaching Key West aboard the sealift
had come from Cuban prisons rather
than Havana’s Peruvian Embassy.
“We found the whole gamut of
crimes among them: murder, some
narcotics violations, you name it,”
D.E. Powell, Immigration and
Naturalization Service Southern re-
gional commissioner, said
Wednesday.
Powell said 25 people believed to
have been convicted of crimes in
Cuba were among the 1,600 refugees
who arrived at the old navy station
docks Wednesday aboard 69 boats.
Officials said 179 boats had arrived
at Key West by midnight Wednes
day, carrying about 6,200 refugees.
A scattering of other boats have
docked in Miami and other Keys
ports but many of the boats returned
without any refugees.
Shortly before midnight, a 140-
foot luxury charter fishing boat, the
Viking Starship, arrived at Truman
Annex carrying about 500 refugees.
That was the largest single arrival
since the exodus from Cuba began
April 14.
“Based on initial questioning, we
have reason to believe they are ex
cludable from the United States,”
Powell said of the suspected crimin
als. People convicted of crimes in
their home countries can be kept
from staying in the United States, he
said.
The 25 were being sent to the Fed-
eral Correctional Institution at
Homestead, south of Miami —
wh^ye 16 other suspected Cuban cri
minals were detained Monday,
Povvnll said. There are some more on
the way,” he said.
R$p. Elizabeth Holtzman, D-
N.Y., chairman of the House sub
committee on Refugees, Migration
and International law, toured the
Key West docks Wednesday and said
she spoke to several refugees who
admitted having criminal records.
<,r fh ere does seem to be some cri
minal element here,’’ she said.
She said in Miami that a refugee
told her he was among 700 criminals
taken to a center in Cuba and “told
they eould go back to prison or go to
the United States.”
In other developments
Wednesday:
—- President Carter ordered the
Navy to send ships to the Florida
Straits to back up the Coast Guard in
the “'steadily growing problem” of
the hundreds of amateur skippers
ferrying refugees from Cuba.
— Federal officials said a huge
processing center will be set up
somewhe fe outside South Florida,
possibly nt Eglin Air Force Base in
Panhandl e pja.
— Thn State Department said it
had open^ talks with Cuba trying to
persuade Ridel Castro to let some of
the refug eeS g 0 to other countries.
— Th$ flow of boats out of Key
West, whi c h had been hundreds dai
ly, dwindled to about 30.
ergland: Farm ills short-lived
*-ȣ United Press International
11 j WASHINGTON — Agriculture
ecretary Bob Bergland told Con-
rpr ress Thursday that farmers’ prob-
^ ms of high costs and sagging prices
rilibe short-lived.
eai “If infl tion can be contained and
/oriel order maintained, the 1980s
fail ill be a very good decade for Amer-
■ i “ an farmers as the rest of the world
” e ontinues to upgrade its diet,” Berg-
tion c lnt ] (old House Agriculture
swl “ lt lommittee.
'"i* 1 Chairman Thomas Foley, D-
, fash., called for an early decision to
■ectOT istitutc a set-aside program to cut
Pasoi ackgrain production in 1981. Berg-
Imdsaidifit is likely that grain stocks
ill increase, the administration
ter |IS nuld announce a set-aside early.
, , Foley pressed for higher price
Derol' jpport loans for grain put into the
w 1 1 irmer-owned reserve, and Berg-
"T 11 md repeated his general approval of
hi el lisapproach. The proposal has been
5 e * PProved hy.the Senate Agrjqulture
'oinmittee.
r0 , Our problem is cost,” Bergland
rres , “f How do you shoehorn a $400
’•n™ lillion outlay into a balanced
udget?”
Finally, Foley called for higher
^Wices at which reserve grain is sold
«into the market; Bergland said
e was willing to discuss a change,
nergland appeared on the third of
We days of hearings on a financial
n sis facing agriculture. The prob-
■n was highlighted by April’s farm
rice report released Wednesday,
showed that farm prices fell
r f '5 percent in April.
the average, prices of raw farm
roducts are 9 percent below last
| i ear and farmers’ expenses are 11
^ ercent above last year.
r!
0'
“The problems that we now face
— rising production costs, tight cre
dit, transportation difficulties, sag
ging prices — are severe,” Bergland
said.
“For those who have a low equity
base and rely upon purchased inputs
and commercial financing, the finan
cial strain is particularly tough. But
these problems will be shortlived.”
Bergland said attention given the
embargo of grain to the Soviet Un
ion, last year’s bumper crops and re
cord grain and soybean supplies have
overshadowed a favorable long-term
outlook from “fast growing foreign
markets for more grains, oilseeds
and fibers and expanding domestic
demand for U.S., agricultural pro
ducts.”
Foreign demand has taken 20 per
cent of American farm production
this year compared to less than 12
percent a decade ago, he said.
Bergland said “assertions in recent
, i weeks that the agricultural economy
is on the verge of collapse” have
overlooked strong performance of
American agriculture, he said.
Even rapidly rising costs of energy
that are cutting into farm income
have a silver lining in the long-term,
Bergland said.
“But the fundamental changes in
technology and operating practices
that must occur will benefit both the
farm sector and the entire economy
long into our future,” he said.
Growth in world demand and lack
of cropland reserves indicate promis
ing crop prices in this decade, he
said.
He predicted that competition for
land will cause a shift from forage to
row crops, especially in the eastern
half of the nation, limiting growth in
the cattle herd, he said.
“With beef supplies at present low
per-capita levels, and with slow
growth in supply, we should enter a
period of sustained strong cattle
prices, once consumer demand re
covers from the impending reces
sion,” Bergland said.
He also predicted increased use of
grain for alcohol fuels will have a
“bullish” impact on commodity
prices.
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To Brazos County
Citizens:
Many People Have Asked Me: How is the
campaign coming along?
MY REPLY IS:
I Have Not Encountered My Opponent’s
Efforts As Often As I Have Those Of His
Brother Richard Smith, The Mayor Of Bryan.
As Judge I Would Not Be Disqualified To
Hear Cases Involving The City Of Bryan Due
To Conflict Of Interest.
I Am Politically Unattached And Not
Obligated.
This Is Your First Chance To Elect The
272ND District Court Judge.
A Vote For BROOKS GOFER Avoids A
Concentration of Power in Brazos County.
VOTE FOR 25 YEARS LEGAL EX
PERIENCE - MATURITY AND JUDGMENT
ELECT BROOKS GOFER
(Pd Pol Adv by D Brboks Cofer Jr, Camp Treas, Bx 3520, Bryan, Tx)