Feb. 14, 1963 - Miami opened its arms today to another band of 746 Cuban refugees, but there was rising alarm that South Florida’s economy is slowly drowning in the human flood. Appeals went out to other cities to help take some of the load off a Miami area already choking from the pressure of 155,000 penniless escapees from Fidel Castro’s communist regime. In the stuffy holds of the banana freighter Santo Cerro, the newest arrivals reached Port Everglades today. “There are other ports where these unfortunate people could be disembarked without causing any serious problems,” said Richard Basinger, Port Everglades commissioner. “Everyone in South Florida agrees that we should aid anyone who is in serious trouble,” Basinger remarked. “But the time has come when this influx of refugees into our area must stop. It is unfair to the Cubans to bring them into an area where the job situation is so bad. I think it is time for New Orleans and other port cities to offer their help.”
