Marielitos

This is - gasp - an interesting and newsworthy story from today's Times-Picayune about four Cuban Marielitos released from prison after 25 years.

President Carter decided to get Castro's goat by opening up U.S. borders to anyone who cared to leave Cuba in 1980. This policy came back to bite him in the ass when the clever (and enraged) Castro decided to allow anyone who wanted to go to leave from Cuba's port of Mariel (hence the term "marielito.") Castro also emptied Cuba's prisons and asylums, putting convicts and the mentally ill and retarded on boats bound for Florida (does anyone remember the beginning of Scarface?)

The U.S. Department of Immigration had no idea what to do with the 125,000 who made the trip and really bungled the whole thing. Immigration authorities detained convicts (many who were jailed by Castro for purely political reasons or insignificant infractions) for many years and are just now beginning to release them. With no money or identification. Onto the streets of Louisiana and into many other random communities where they have no friends, family, or other resources. A Cuban lawyer who advocated their release referred to the government's policy as "sabotage," saying, "They lock up these people for so long, then they just dump them on the street. They're going to get arrested and then -- ah, ha! -- these people shouldn't have been released to start off with, they'll say. They're a danger. It's not right." Manny Van Pelt, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, would seem to agree, "This is a Supreme Court decision," Van Pelt said Tuesday. "It's something we disagreed with. There were individuals who argued for it, and this is the end result. These are criminal aliens being released into the community."

Some New Orleanians are trying to get a charity going to pay for the mens' bus tickets to Miami and other expenses. This is definitely a cause worth supporting and I will try to find out details. In the meantime - please read the story.