A Warmer Welcome for the Homeless

President Gerald Ford assured his press conference last week that he always kept his temper, except for "occasional outbursts on the golf course." Nonetheless, he was obviously angry over the callow opposition of some Americans to resettling about 115,000 Vietnamese refugees in the U.S. At a meeting with Republican congressional leaders, the President said that he was "damned mad" and added: "It just burns me up. These great humanitarians --they just want to turn their backs. We didn't do it with the Hungarians. We didn't do it with the Cubans. And damn it, we're not going to do it now." To that end Ford called on Americans to welcome the refugees and Congress to appropriate $507 million to settle them.

Liberal Opposition. Partly because of Ford's appeal, opposition to the refugees dwindled rapidly. There were, of course, unfortunate exceptions. In California an organization of farmers and businessmen asked a Sacramento federal judge to block the refugee resettlement program on the rather ridiculous grounds that among other things, Government officials had not issued a statement on the program's impact on the U.S. environment. Chicago Civil Rights Leader Jesse Jackson said that the refugees should be kept out of the U.S. because "there are now nearly 9 million jobless in this nation."

Ford was particularly incensed with opposition among some liberals in Congress. Democratic Senator George McGovern of South Dakota claimed that "90% of the Vietnamese refugees would be better off going back to their own land" because only "a handful of government leaders were in any real danger of reprisals." Democratic Representative Elizabeth Holtzman of New York urged the U.S. to bar "persons who may have engaged in misappropriating U.S. funds, run tiger cages or carried out the torture of political prisoners."

Such arguments struck many Americans as meanspirited. Some people believed that for one thing, it was up to the refugees to decide whether their fives had been in jeopardy. For another, the U.S. had a hand in corrupting many Vietnamese officials. The Administration assured congressional committees that criminals will be weeded out.

Still, the Government faced a dilemma over what to do with criminals, who in any case would probably be few. U.S. immigration laws prohibit their entry. But the U.S., among many other nations, makes a practice of not sending political refugees back to their homelands against their will. When asked what would happen if a murderer turned up among the newcomers, a U.S. immigration official replied: "I don't know. We can't let him in, and we can't send him back. I doubt that any other country would admit him." In fact, the U.S. has been largely unsuccessful in persuading other countries to admit any refugees. Canada has agreed to take about 3,000; Australia will accept fewer than 100. Most other nations have expressed no interest in admitting Vietnamese.

Immigrant Heritage. Thus the U.S. seemed to have no choice except to settle most of them within its borders. At week's end 14,000 refugees had reached their new homes, usually with relatives who were already U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Another 34,000 were quartered temporarily at the three resettlement centers: Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, Fort Chaffee in Arkansas and Camp Pendleton in California (see following story). The remaining 67,000 refugees were still at or en route to U.S. bases on Guam, Wake Island and the Philippines.

L. Dean Brown, director of the State Department's refugee program, said that some 60% of the refugees are children and only about 30%--roughly 35,000 people--are heads of households and will need jobs. Concluded the conservative Tulsa World: "There will be no long-term problem with the immigration of Vietnamese unless we want to make a problem." Said AFL-CIO President George Meany: "If this great country can't absorb another 30,000 people and help them find a way to make a living, it will be denying its heritage." Added House Judiciary Committee Chairman Peter Rodino, who is a staunch fighter against illegal aliens but a supporter of legal immigration: "When this country forgets its immigrant heritage and turns its back on the oppressed and homeless, we will indeed have written finis to the American dream."

Responding to the plight of the homeless refugees, thousands of Americans made big and small offers of jobs, homes and financial help. So many proposals poured in that volunteer agencies helping the State Department relocate the refugees had trouble keeping pace. The agencies are charged with weeding out undesirable sponsors, such as families looking for a cheap maid or old men seeking young girls. Sponsors are asked to provide food, shelter and clothing until the refugee is selfsupporting. Somewhat optimistically, Brown expects all the refugees to be settled in their new homes by the end of July.

Many Senators and Representatives were skeptical at first that Congress would appropriate anything like Ford's request of $507 million for aid. But as public support mounted for the refugees, congressional opposition to aid faded quickly. The House Judiciary Committee acted with remarkable dispatch and agreed by a margin of 30 to 4 to clear the way for a vote by the full House on the bill this week, followed soon afterward by a vote in the Senate. Approval of a large sum is certain, perhaps even more than Ford requested, though the final figure was undetermined. Thus the most divisive period in U.S. history seemed to be ending on an unusual note of near unanimity between the White House and Congress.

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