[constitutiongirl]

Cutting the faucet off...I agree wholeheartedly. If I'm guessing your age correctly, I'd say you were talking about the Mariel boat-lift Cubans. You wouldn't believe how many established Cubans were embarrassed by them and wouldn't have anything to do with them. I had one cousin that came over then (his father died in a labour camp) and he was detained for nearly a year while the US gov't sorted out whether he was criminal or political. I know only 2 Mariels that my father became friendly with and they were both musicians that had been imprisoned because of anti-Revolution tendicies. One now owns a restaurant and the other a night club. I personally don't know any Cubans on the dole and I saw some statistics (back during Elian) that say they're one of the lowest demographics of welfare recipients. Most Cubans see charity as salt in the wound and would just as soon starve as accept it.

[HELLRAISER II]

You have the time line correct and trust me when I tell you I meant no offense if you are of Cuban decent. But it was the one mass influx of illegal aliens that I personally knew of. I in no way meant to insinuate that all Cubans were like Tony(Al Pacino) in Scarface, only that what they did coming over was not the legal correct way to go about it. On the other hand, if I was in Cuba I to would do whatever it took to come to America, including sneaking in illegally.