American Notes Refugees

By now, the pattern is familiar: desks are rifled, file cabinets searched, records apparently stolen or photocopied. Money and expensive equipment are usually left untouched. In six cities during the past 14 months, groups providing support and sanctuary for Central American refugees have been hit by burglaries, suggesting an organized campaign of harassment. The break-ins have occurred at churches and the offices of sanctuary groups, as well as organizations providing legal guidance to Central American refugees in Seattle, Detroit, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Guadalupe, Ariz., and Cambridge, Mass. Some burglaries are repeat jobs. The Cambridge offices of the New Institute for Central America (NICA), which arranges for Americans to travel to Nicaragua, were ransacked recently for the fourth time. "We think that the Government is behind these acts," said Garrett D. Brown, NICA's associate director, though he had no solid proof to support his theory. The FBI and Immigration and Naturalization Service insist they had nothing to do with the burglaries. "We are not involved in any illegal break- ins," said FBI Spokesman Bill Carter. He added, "If we did it, they wouldn't know it. We're better than that."