Resettlement Re-Cap was published by the Cuban Refugee Center in Miami for distribution to government agencies involved in the Cuban Refugee Assistance Program (CRA). The publication primarily consisted of human interest stories about the progress of resettlement efforts for Cuban refugees.
This publication highlights efforts at the local, state and federal levels to provide assistance to Cuban Refugees. It also provides insight into the experiences of refugees in Florida and elsewhere who participated in the CRA program.
The CRA was an unprecedented effort brought about by the mass exodus of Cubans from their homeland following the Revolution of 1959. From the early 1960s to the mid-1990s, more than one million Cubans immigrated to the United States. The majority settled in South Florida.
At the national level, the CRA was an important component of U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War. The U.S. hoped that programs like the CRA would help improve the reputation of the American government around the world. The CRA also allowed the U.S. to oppose the government of Fidel Castro by strengthening the Cuban exile community.
At the local level, the CRA helped alleviate social and economic problems created by the influx of Cuban refugees into Miami and South Florida. If not for federal assistance under the CRA, Florida and especially Miami-Dade County could not have assumed the financial costs of the Cuban refugee crisis.
