Statement of Arnold I Burns Before the House Subcommittee on Courts, Civil Liberties and the Administration of Justice, Committee on the Judiciary, Concerning the Mariel Cubans on February 4, 1988

• NCJ Number: 109240
• Author(s): A I Burns
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 23 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Legislative Hearing/Committee Report
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This statement by Arnold Burns, U.S. Deputy Attorney General, reviews events and responses to the Mariel Cuban detainee uprisings at the Federal Detention Center in Oakdale, La., and the United States penitentiary in Atlanta, Ga., which occurred between November 21, and December 4, 1987.

Abstract

The statement relates the uprisings to media accounts of the reinstatement of the agreement normalizing the immigration relationship between the United States and Cuba. Neither of the institutions involved was capable of mounting a general lockdown in response to signs of inmate disquiet. The Attorney General's efforts to resolve the two disturbances involved securing prison perimeters and working toward release of the hostages. The Justice Department proceeded on the basis of negotiating with the hostagetakers as long as the safety of the hostages was assured. The disorders were resolved through negotiation without any of the hostages being killed or seriously injured. Settlements at both institutions had similar elements. Central to the settlements was the Justice Department's imposing of a temporary moratorium on the deportation of Mariel Cuban detainees pending a full and fair review of each case in addition to the extensive administrative and judicial procedures already available. This statement describes the review process currently underway.