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THE BATTALION Page 9
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1980
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Cuban refugee ‘appalled’ by treatment
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Ben Aguirre, a sociologist professor at Texas A&M Universi
ty, first came to America from Cuba in 1961. He says tbe new
wave of Cuban refugees is receiving much different treat
ment.
By MARGARITA JAIME
Battalion Staff
When Dr. Ben Aguirre first heard of the treatment
the Cuban refugees were receiving in this country, he
was appalled.
Aguirre was a Cuban refugee himself and did not
receive that type of treatment on his arrival.
A sociology professor at Texas A&M University,
Aguirre came to this country in 1961 after the demise
of the Bay of Pigs invasion, three years after the Fidel
Castro take-over.
He was 14 years old when he arrived in Miami. At
the time, a rumor circulated through Cuba that a law
was going to be passed that would take away the power
and responsibility parents had over their children.
The rumored law would have allowed the govern
ment to recruit young boys into the army without
permission from the parents, Aguirre said.
“My mother decided that I should leave the country
temporarily; so, I flew to Miami to reside with my
uncle,” he said.
When Aguirre arrived in the country, he was not
forced into any relocation camp or contained for any
processing period.
“Federal agencies were set up in the Miami area,”
he said, “and they aided the Cubans in asking for
political asylum.”
Once the refugees were granted asylum, these pro
grams and agencies helped them find a job and a place
to stay. Contrary to the way Cubans were treated in
the early 1960s, some Cubans in Fort Chaffee have
been waiting relocation for as long as three months.
Nowadays, Aguirre said there is more red tape in
volved in relocating the refugees.
“In a number of cases it appeared to me that proce-
H dures were not as efficient as they (the U.S. govem-
Staff photo by Pat O’Malley ment) had hoped.
“People’s records were lost. Some people were out
side the camp; however, their records showed them to
be inside the camp.”
In August, Aguirre was invited to conduct a study for
i
the Federal Emergency Management Agency on the
situation inside the camp.
At the Fort Smith, Ark., airport, he talked to a
Cuban who had been released from the fort and given
an airline ticket and was awaiting a flight to his spon
sors. The man didn’t know their names or what city he
was going to, Aguirre said.
He called the Catholic Conference at the fort to find
out the information and “They said he was still sup
posed to be at the fort,” he said.
“That 50-year-old man was almost in tears. I told him
I wouldn’t send him back to the fort.” Aguirre said.
After a frustrating 30-minute call to the officials who
issued the ticket, he finally determined the name and
telephone number of the sponsors. It was a wrong
number, but a call to Corpus Christi information pro
duced the correct number and he called the sponsors.
As it turned out, the sponsors weren’t expecting him
that day and were trying to cope with damages from
Hurricane Allen, he said. With that basic information,
Aguirre was able to help the refugee make his transfer
flight and he was met at the Corpus Christi Airport by
his sponsors.
Since then, Aguirre said the man had called to report
he had found a job and was starting a new life.
The migration process was also different in 1961,
Aguirre said.
“It was a gradual migration with very orderly and
established means,” he said. “During this period the
U.S. government was prepared for the migration of
Cubans; they knew who, and how many were coming
even before the Cubans left the island.”
However, the migration this summer was unex
pected.
“The press had reported that there was a CIA report
warning that Castro would rid the country of malcon
tents through immigration,” Aguirre said. "As it turned
out, he shipped them to the United States against the
authority of our government.”
Texaco gives A&M $2,000
Officials of Texaco have presented Producing Department, and staff
$2,000 to Texas A&M University’s geophysicist S.B. Conger Jr. award-
geophysics program to support stu- ed the grant,
dent scholarships and activities. Dr. Neville Carter, head of geo-
Vernon Dulling, division mana- physics at Texas A&M, accepted the
ger of Texaco’s West United States check.
4
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