Operation Pedro Pan: The Cuban Children’s Exodus

Between 1960 and 1962, more than 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban children were sent out of the island by their parents to escape the repressive communist government. What was, at the time, the largest recorded child refugee exodus in the Western Hemisphere, was organized by then Father (later Msgr.) Bryan O. Walsh, a priest of the then Diocese of Miami.

Working with other Catholic agencies throughout the country, children were placed with relatives, in temporary shelters, or relocated to 30 states to stay with foster families until they could be reunited with their parents. Some never did.