Caribbean refugees to get processing in Puerto Rico

The State Department Cuban-Haitian Refugee Task Force, citing the need for better facilities, says all future Cuban and Haitian refugees will be sent to the unsued Fort Allen Navy Base in Puerto Rico for American officials to interview them and decide on their resettlement. The new refugee camp will replace two refugee processing centers near Miami.

Since April 125,000 Cubans and 6,000 Haitians have arrived in Florida. All but 11,000 have been resettled, but refugees are still arriving at the rate of about 150 Cubans a day and 1,000 Haitians a month.

Puerto Rico Gov. Carlos Romero Barcelo says it will take four to six months to rehabilitate the base to house about 800 refugees.