South Bend, May 20, 1979
An Endless Stream of Refugees
While 600 Jewish immigrants from the Ukraine arrived at the JFK International Airport in New York, 196 Vietnamese “boat people” came to Des Moines, Iowa. The latter are refugees who had fled from Vietnam in makeshift vessels, risking their lives in the venture. One must have seen how these people were overcome by emotion in order to understand what it means to them to have been admitted to the United States. Having at times been waiting for years, what anxiety and hopes they must have gone through. This year, the United States will admit 50,000 Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union and 35,000 refugees from Vietnam. The governor of Iowa has set up a special aid program for refugees from Vietnam. There are an estimated 10 million refugees dispersed over various regions of the world. Who will take care of these people?