Bush to Take ‘Hard Look’ at Refugee Influx Into U.S. : He Blames Ortega for Problem

President-elect Bush said today he would take “a hard new look” at U.S. immigration policies, but he blamed what he called tyranny in leftist-run Nicaragua for the influx of refugees from Central America.

Bush, at a brief airport news conference en route to a weekend of fishing in the Florida Keys, was asked first what he planned to do about the huge influx of refugees overburdening the Miami area.

Bush replied that the influx of refugees into Florida and his home state of Texas “is causing an overburdening of facilities like schools and hospitals. This is a sorry commentary on what’s happening in Central America and Nicaragua, and we’ve been seeing this for a long, long time.”

“When I become President, we’re going to take a hard new look at the immigration policies,” he said, “but there is no easy answer to it.

“The final answer is democracy and freedom in Nicaragua. When people are fleeing tyranny the United States has to be generous. But no one community can suffer an overload without some support.”

Asked what he would do about the refugees already here, Bush replied crisply, “The law takes care of that.”

Asked about a report that Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh favors scrapping the independent counsel law, Bush said, “I have great confidence in the Justice Department under Dick Thornburgh and I will await his recommendation.” Bush said he still feels “there ought to be equal treatment for the Congress and the executive branch.”

On another issue, Bush defended offshore oil drilling and said it can be done without harming the environment.

Queried as to whether he favors a ban on oil leasing in the Florida Keys, Bush, a former Texas oilman, said, “What does that have to do with fishing?”

He went on: “Look, I’ve pledged two things: One is recognizing that this country cannot depend on foreign oil for our national security, but (needs) prudent development of our offshore resources.

“Two, I am pledged to see that that is done with total compatibility to our marine life and to other environmental considerations.”

Earlier, aboard Air Force II, Bush told reporters that the fact that his new Cabinet is heavily weighted with familiar Washington faces was just what he wanted.

Bush had promised to bring “new faces” to Washington, but he said: “I never pledged that I would have a totally inexperienced Cabinet. There’s a lot of new faces in the Cabinet. It depends how you define new--new from the old (Reagan Administration) Cabinet, not new from having no experience in Washington.

“I want an experienced Cabinet. That’s exactly what we’ve got,” said Bush, who chose five Cabinet members who had served in the Reagan Cabinet and only three people without Washington backgrounds to fill his 17 Cabinet and Cabinet-level jobs.

Bush promised he would make no news while holed up here at a private condominium development until Sunday.

“I’m interested in why there’s such a large traveling press corps here . . . when there are so many other awesome journalistic responsibilities,” he quipped. “Sixty of you have found a way to get down here, and I salute you for it.”