The son of Cuban exiles, he likens himself to the Mariel refugees.

A Mariel refugee with no arrest record in Cuba, he was among those released into society by Government officials early in 1981.

For 25 years now, the Marielitos, as Mariel refugees were called, have quietly chipped away at the stereotype they were saddled with.

Hialeah is home to 25,000 Mariel refugees, according to Mayor Martinez, whose family arrived here from Cuba in 1960.

At the time, Mr. Mendez did not speak English and also carried the stigma of being a Mariel refugee.

Instead, upon arrival, the two were sent to detention camps, as many other Mariel refugees were.

Part of the December agreement was to repatriate 2,500 of the Mariel refugees, convicted on various crimes, now in Federal custody.

Unemployment rates among Miami Cubans did increase from 7.2 to 10.1 percent, but the burden was borne almost exclusively by the Mariel refugees themselves.

But several thousand other Mariel refugees stumbled after their journey ashore.

After two years, he went with another Mariel refugee to fish for king salmon in Alaska.