Manuel Minagorri worked as a Disbursing Officer with the CRA. Like many CRA employees, he was a refugee himself. In this letter he responds to a request by Mrs. Fern Pence for recollections on his first day in the program. Minagorri explains the uncertainly Cuban refugees faced upon arriving in the United States, and the hope they received from the CRA.
Manuel Minagorri
Disbursing Officer
Memories of an Unforgettable Day
The morning of February 27, 1961, had a special meaning for all Cuban refugees. Although the press had announced that the Federal Government had approved a program for economic assistance to the Cuban refugees, none of them knew how long or how was it to be handled. Therefore that morning, many hours before the doors of the Cuban Refugee Emergency Center were open, hundreds of people made a line to wait for their turns to go in to the building.
Each of those persons had a very sad experience to tell. It is necessary to have passed through the sad experience of a refugee to be able to understand how painful it is to know that in our country all human and legal rights of the people have disappeared. To suffer the uncertainty of not knowing if some day there will be an end of the long nightmare of imprisonments and executions. To feel the physical and moral collapse that takes place when a person faces the sudden loss of all that has been accumulated through the long years of work and efforts.
When we opened the doors, we faced a stirring moment.
Although my duty was that of signing and delivering the checks, I could not avoid the fact that some of the clients wanted to tell me about their troubles and then to ask me how they had to return the money received. When I told them that they had no obligation to return it and that it was an assistance from the Government until they could find a job, I could see in their eyes how grateful they felt for this generous action.
