CUBAN AND HAITIAN REFUGEES

WHEREAS, within the last few months over 100,000 Cubans and Haitians have fled totalitarian governments and reached our shores; and

WHEREAS, the Carter administration has failed to grant to these Cuban and Haitian refugees the same status granted to refugees from other totalitarian countries such as Hungary and Vietnam; and

WHEREAS, the failure to grant special refugee status has resulted in great hardships to the refugees as well as to the cities in which they have settled; and

WHEREAS, these cities have had to provide a broad range of social and educational services without federal assistance; and

WHEREAS, in a period of sharp unemployment and increasing inflation this influx of refugees could lead to racial and ethnic conflicts:

RESOLVED, that we extend our welcome to the Cubans and Haitians who have become our most recent refugees and urge the federal government to assist in their re-settlement in our country; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT encourages the Carter administration to grant special refugee status to the Cubans and Haitians so that local areas and their taxpayers will not bear the brunt of the problem of providing for additional services; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT will support impact legislation which will provide jobs to United States citizens and refugees in the areas of greatest Cuban and Haitian settlement.