Elián González
Encyclopedia
The custody
and immigration
status of a young Cuba
n boy, Elián González (born December 7, 1993), was at the center of a heated 2000 controversy involving the governments of Cuba
and the United States
, González's father, Juan Miguel González Quintana, González's other relatives in Miami, Florida
, and in Cuba, and Miami's Cuban American
community.
González's mother had drowned in late 1999 while attempting to leave Cuba with her son and her boyfriend to the United States. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
(INS) initially placed González with paternal relatives in Miami, who sought to keep him in the United States against his father's demands that González be returned to Cuba. A federal district court
's ruling that only González's father, and not his extended relatives, could petition for asylum
on the boy's behalf was upheld by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals
. After the U.S. Supreme Court
declined to hear the case, González was taken from his relatives at gunpoint and returned to Cuba in June 2000.
. During this time many Cubans have tried to leave Cuba for the United States. This emigration
is illegal under both Cuban and U.S. law; any Cuban found at sea, attempting to reach U.S. shores, will be deported by the U.S. Coast Guard
or if discovered by Cuban police
, ostracized and prohibited from most Cuban institutions. U.S. policy has evolved into the current "wet feet, dry feet" rule
: If a Cuban is picked up at sea or walking toward shore, he/she will be repatriated
by force. If he/she can make it to shore ("dry feet"), he/she is permitted to make a case for political asylum.
Cubans who make it to U.S. soil are generally allowed to remain in the country. After a year, the Cuban Adjustment Act allows them to apply for U.S. residency. This differs from U.S. immigration policy applied to refugees of other Caribbean nations, notably Haiti
ans. To monitor whether the returned Cubans are subjected to persecution, the U.S. Interest Section in Havana
, in cooperation with international organizations, maintains follow-up contact with the returned Cubans. The result of this monitoring has been a conclusion that there is no systematic legal policy of the Cuban government to persecute those Cubans who have been returned.
In November 1999, González, his mother, and twelve others left Cuba on a small aluminum boat with a faulty engine; González's mother and ten others died in the crossing. González and the other two survivors floated at sea on an inner tube
until they were rescued by two fishermen, who turned him over to the U.S. Coast Guard.
González's cousin Marisleysis said González told her the motor had broken on the boat and its passengers had tried in vain to bail out the water with nylon bags, but that a storm doomed their efforts. He told her he tried to help get the water out and that his mother's boyfriend placed him in an inner tube for safety. "He said afterwards that he fell asleep and that when he woke up he never saw his mother again." He said, "I think she drowned too because she didn't know how to swim." Nivaldo Fernández Ferran, one of the three survivors on the boat said, "Elizabet protected her son to the end". According to Ferran, they set out on their trip at 4 a.m., November 21, 1999, dragging inflated rubber floats, or inner tubes, in case they needed them. As they encountered bad weather, the boat's engine failed and the craft began to fill with water. After it went under, the passengers clung to the inner tubes in cold water, with waves reaching heights of three to four meters (10 to 13 feet).
The Immigration and Naturalization Service
(INS) released González to his paternal great-uncle, Lázaro. According to the Washington Post, González's father, Juan Miguel González Quintana, had telephoned Lázaro from Cuba on November 22, 1999, to advise that González and his mother had left Cuba without Juan Miguel's knowledge, and to watch for their arrival. However, Lázaro González, backed by local Cuban-Americans, soon took the position that the boy should remain in the United States and not be returned to his father in Cuba. Marisleysis González (Lázaro's adult daughter) became Elián González's principal caretaker, and quickly became a well-known television figure. Armando Gutierrez
, a local Cuban American businessman was self-appointed the family spokesperson. However, Juan Miguel, with the support of his nation's authorities, demanded that the boy be returned to the care of his father.
For much of early 2000, Elián González's plight dominated the news in the United States and in Cuba.
On January 21, 2000, González's grandmothers, Mariela Quintana and Raquel Rodríguez, flew from Havana to the United States to seek their grandson's return to Cuba. While they were able to meet with the boy only once (at the Miami Beach home of Barry University
president Sister Jeanne O'Laughlin), they journeyed to Washington and met with congressmen and Attorney General
Janet Reno
. After nine days of relentless media coverage (during which Republican lawmakers acknowledged they did not have the votes to pass a bill to give González U.S. citizenship), the two women returned to Cuba to "a hero's welcome".
On January 28, Spanish Foreign Minister Abel Matutes
called for the boy's return to Cuba, stating that international law
dictated the return. Meanwhile, the Miami Gonzálezes fought off allegations that they had offered Juan Miguel a house and a car if he abandoned the action and joined his son in Miami.
Through January and February, Juan Miguel sent a number of open letters to the U.S. Government (they were published in, among other places, the Cuban newspaper Granma
) demanding the return of his son and refusing the Miami relatives' demands.
On March 21, a Federal judge dismissed the relatives' petition for asylum which they had filed on behalf of Elián González. Lázaro vowed to appeal. On March 29, Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas
was joined by 22 other civic leaders in a speech in downtown Miami. Penelas indicated that the municipality would not cooperate with Federal authorities on any repatriation of the boy, and would not lend police or other assistance in taking the boy.
On April 14, a video was released in which González tells Juan Miguel that he wants to stay in the United States. However, many considered that he had been coached, as a male voice was heard off-camera directing the young boy. In a September 2005 interview with 60 Minutes
after being sent back to Cuba, González stated that during his stay in the U.S., his family members were "telling me bad things about [my father]," and "were also telling me to tell him that I did not want to go back to Cuba, and I always told them I wanted to."
Elián González remained a subject of media attention as he went to Walt Disney World Resort
one day, then met with politicians the next. Throughout the custody battle, opinion polls showed that around 42% of Americans thought González should be returned to his father immediately, 31% thought that the decision should be made following full family custody hearings, 14% wanted asylum appeals heard first, and 4% thought that González should never be returned to Cuba. On April 19, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruled that González must stay in the U.S. until the Miami Gonzálezes could appeal for an asylum hearing in May.
Janet Reno
ordered the return of Elián to his father and set a deadline of April 13, 2000, but the Miami relatives defied the order. Negotiations continued for several days as the house was surrounded by protesters as well as police. The relatives insisted on guarantees that they could live with the child for several months and retain custody, and that Elián would not be returned to Cuba. Negotiations carried on throughout the night, but Reno stated that the relatives rejected all workable solutions. A Florida family court judge revoked Lázaro's temporary custody, clearing the way for Elián to be returned to his father's custody. On April 20, Reno made the decision to remove Elián González from the house and instructed law enforcement officials to determine the best time to obtain the boy. After being informed of the decision, Marisleysis said to a Justice Department community relations officer, "You think we just have cameras in the house? If people try to come in, they could be hurt."
In the pre-dawn hours of April 22, pursuant to an order issued by a federal magistrate, eight SWAT
-equipped agents of the Border Patrol
's elite BORTAC
unit as part of an operation in which more than 130 INS personnel took part approached the house; they knocked, and identified themselves. When no one responded from within, they entered the house. Pepper-spray and mace were employed against those outside the house who attempted to interfere. Nonetheless, a stool, rocks, and bottles were thrown at the agents. In the confusion Armando Gutierrez
called in Alan Diaz
, of the Associated Press
, to enter the house and entered a room with Elián, his great uncle's wife Angela Lázaro, her niece, the niece's young son, and Donato Dalrymple (one of the fishermen who had rescued him from the ocean). They waited in the room listening to agents searching the house. Diaz took a widely publicized photograph of a border patrol agent discovering Dalrymple and the boy hiding in a closet.
INS also stated in the days after the raid that they had identified as many as two dozen persons who were "prepared to thwart any government operation," some of whom had concealed weapons while others had criminal record
s. The INS noted reported statements made by members of the Lázaro family that they were prepared to deal with any intrusion on their property by force if authorities attempted to take Elián without their consent.
"Assassins!" yelled some of the approximately 100 protesters, some of whom climbed over the barricades in an attempt to stop the agents. Within an hour of the raid, the crowd in Little Havana quickly swelled to about 300. Hundreds of outraged protesters poured out into the streets of Little Havana
and demonstrated, burning garbage containers, tires, and trees. Crowds jammed a more than 10-block area of Little Havana. Police in riot gear were deployed and tear gas was used. Shortly afterwards, many Miami-Dade County
businesses closed, as their owners and managers participated in a short boycott
.
Public opinion about the INS raid on the Miami González's house was widely polarized. A Time magazine issue showed a joyful photo of Elián being reunited with his father (the caption says "Papa!"), while Newsweek ran an issue that focused on the raid, entitled "Seizing Elián." There were two major foci in the coverage: the INS raid and the family reunions.
Four hours after he was taken from the house in Miami, Elián and his father were reunited at Andrews Air Force Base
. The next day, the White House released a photograph showing a smiling Elián reunited with his father, which the Miami relatives disputed by claiming that it was a fake Elián in the photograph. Later, Elián and his family were to be taken to the Aspen Institute Wye River Conference Center (formerly known as "Wye Plantation"). The media was barred from access to the family. While the family was still at Andrews, New Hampshire Senator Bob Smith
, escorting the Miami González, was turned away from the base by guards. The May 5, 2000, Miami Herald reported that Elián was joined by his classmates (without their parents) and his teacher from his hometown, Cárdenas
. Granma
released pictures of Elián in the Young Pioneer
uniform of Cuba's Communist youth league. On May 6, 2000, attorney Greg Craig
took Elián and Juan Miguel to a dinner in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC, hosted by Smith and Elizabeth Bagley.
After Elián was returned to his father's custody, he remained in the U.S. while the Miami relatives exhausted their legal options. A three-judge federal panel had ruled that he could not go back to Cuba until he was granted an asylum hearing, but the case turned on the right of the relatives to request that hearing on behalf of the boy. On June 1, 2000, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Elián was too young to file for asylum; only his father could speak for him, and the relatives lacked legal standing
. On June 28, 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the decision. Later the same day, Elián González and his family returned home to Cuba.
Elián now lives with his family in Cárdenas, where his father, Juan Miguel, is a waiter at an Italian restaurant about 20 km northwest of Cárdenas. The Cuban State Security has set up a monitoring station right next door. Elián's father was interviewed at the restaurant in 2004 by Keith Morrison
of the NBC News
program Dateline NBC
and Cover to Cover on CNBC
. Juan Miguel told Morrison that Elián feared reporters, so Morrison could not interview Elián, but Juan Miguel filmed a home video on which Elián was shown doing his arithmetic homework with Juan Miguel in their dining room, going to bed in his bedroom with his younger half-brother, and attending karate lessons. Elián's family had moved to another home to evade reporters.
Morrison's TV report also showed an 18th-century building in Cárdenas which was previously used as a fire station
and which was renovated and inaugurated on July 14, 2001, as a museum, called Museo de la Batalla de Ideas ("Museum of the Battle of Ideas"), which includes an Elián exhibition room with a life-size bronze statue of Elián raising a clenched fist. The former González home in Miami has similarly been turned into a museum, with the boy's bedroom left unaltered. Juan Miguel is also a member of the National Assembly
and has attended events for the Communist Party of Cuba
with Elián, who has been called up to the stage to meet Fidel Castro
. Castro also attended a filmed birthday party of Elián with his schoolmates. On the video of the birthday party, a female clown told Elián to blow out the birthday candles with Fidel to his right and surrounded by Elián's schoolmates.
In September 2005, Elián was interviewed by 60 Minutes and stated during the interview that Fidel Castro was a friend, and that he considers Castro "not only as a friend but as a father" although Elian's aunt Angela Gonzalez, said she doubted whether the interview represented his true beliefs because of the controls imposed by Cuba on information
. In December 2006, an ill Fidel Castro was unable to attend González's 13th birthday celebration, so his brother Raúl
stood in instead.
On August 16, 2006, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of an excessive force lawsuit brought by Dalrymple and others against the Federal Government and Reno.
González joined the Young Communist Union of Cuba in June 2008 shortly after graduating junior high school. At age 15, he began military school.
Commentators have suggested that the Elián González affair may have been a factor in voters' decisions in the 2000 United States presidential election, which could have affected the close outcome in Florida. Al Gore's handling of the matter may have been as great a factor as anger by the predominantly Republican Cuban community over the boy's return to Cuba. Gore initially supported Republican legislation to give the boy and his father permanent residence status, but later supported the Administration position. He was attacked both for pandering and being inconsistent.
Child custody
Child custody and guardianship are legal terms which are used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent and his or her child, such as the right of the parent to make decisions for the child, and the parent's duty to care for the child.Following ratification of the United...
and immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
status of a young Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n boy, Elián González (born December 7, 1993), was at the center of a heated 2000 controversy involving the governments of Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, González's father, Juan Miguel González Quintana, González's other relatives in Miami, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, and in Cuba, and Miami's Cuban American
Cuban American
A Cuban American is a United States citizen who traces his or her "national origin" to Cuba. Cuban Americans are also considered native born Americans with Cuban parents or Cuban-born persons who were raised and educated in US...
community.
González's mother had drowned in late 1999 while attempting to leave Cuba with her son and her boyfriend to the United States. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
Immigration and Naturalization Service
The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service , now referred to as Legacy INS, ceased to exist under that name on March 1, 2003, when most of its functions were transferred from the Department of Justice to three new components within the newly created Department of Homeland Security, as...
(INS) initially placed González with paternal relatives in Miami, who sought to keep him in the United States against his father's demands that González be returned to Cuba. A federal district court
District court
District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations. These include:-Australia:District Court is the name given to the intermediate court in most Australian States. They hear indictable criminal offences excluding treason, murder and, in some States, manslaughter...
's ruling that only González's father, and not his extended relatives, could petition for asylum
Asylum in the United States
The United States honors the right of asylum of individuals as specified by international and federal law. A specified number of legally defined refugees, who apply for asylum either overseas or after arriving in the U.S., are admitted annually. Refugees compose about one-tenth of the total...
on the boy's behalf was upheld by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals
United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Middle District of Alabama...
. After the U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
declined to hear the case, González was taken from his relatives at gunpoint and returned to Cuba in June 2000.
Background
Hostility between Cuba and the United States has been persistent since soon after the Cuban RevolutionCuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...
. During this time many Cubans have tried to leave Cuba for the United States. This emigration
Emigration
Emigration is the act of leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state is termed migration. There are many reasons why people...
is illegal under both Cuban and U.S. law; any Cuban found at sea, attempting to reach U.S. shores, will be deported by the U.S. Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
or if discovered by Cuban police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
, ostracized and prohibited from most Cuban institutions. U.S. policy has evolved into the current "wet feet, dry feet" rule
Wet feet, dry feet policy
The wet foot, dry foot policy is the name given to a consequence of the 1995 revision of the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966 that says, essentially, that anyone who fled Cuba and got into the United States would be allowed to pursue residency a year later...
: If a Cuban is picked up at sea or walking toward shore, he/she will be repatriated
Repatriation
Repatriation is the process of returning a person back to one's place of origin or citizenship. This includes the process of returning refugees or soldiers to their place of origin following a war...
by force. If he/she can make it to shore ("dry feet"), he/she is permitted to make a case for political asylum.
Cubans who make it to U.S. soil are generally allowed to remain in the country. After a year, the Cuban Adjustment Act allows them to apply for U.S. residency. This differs from U.S. immigration policy applied to refugees of other Caribbean nations, notably Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
ans. To monitor whether the returned Cubans are subjected to persecution, the U.S. Interest Section in Havana
United States Interests Section in Havana
The U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay is inaccessible from within Cuba. Consular issues regarding the naval base are handled by the U.S. Embassy in Kingston, Jamaica.-Location:...
, in cooperation with international organizations, maintains follow-up contact with the returned Cubans. The result of this monitoring has been a conclusion that there is no systematic legal policy of the Cuban government to persecute those Cubans who have been returned.
González's journey and the beginning of the custody battle
Tire
A tire or tyre is a ring-shaped covering that fits around a wheel rim to protect it and enable better vehicle performance by providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock while keeping the wheel in close contact with the ground...
until they were rescued by two fishermen, who turned him over to the U.S. Coast Guard.
González's cousin Marisleysis said González told her the motor had broken on the boat and its passengers had tried in vain to bail out the water with nylon bags, but that a storm doomed their efforts. He told her he tried to help get the water out and that his mother's boyfriend placed him in an inner tube for safety. "He said afterwards that he fell asleep and that when he woke up he never saw his mother again." He said, "I think she drowned too because she didn't know how to swim." Nivaldo Fernández Ferran, one of the three survivors on the boat said, "Elizabet protected her son to the end". According to Ferran, they set out on their trip at 4 a.m., November 21, 1999, dragging inflated rubber floats, or inner tubes, in case they needed them. As they encountered bad weather, the boat's engine failed and the craft began to fill with water. After it went under, the passengers clung to the inner tubes in cold water, with waves reaching heights of three to four meters (10 to 13 feet).
The Immigration and Naturalization Service
Immigration and Naturalization Service
The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service , now referred to as Legacy INS, ceased to exist under that name on March 1, 2003, when most of its functions were transferred from the Department of Justice to three new components within the newly created Department of Homeland Security, as...
(INS) released González to his paternal great-uncle, Lázaro. According to the Washington Post, González's father, Juan Miguel González Quintana, had telephoned Lázaro from Cuba on November 22, 1999, to advise that González and his mother had left Cuba without Juan Miguel's knowledge, and to watch for their arrival. However, Lázaro González, backed by local Cuban-Americans, soon took the position that the boy should remain in the United States and not be returned to his father in Cuba. Marisleysis González (Lázaro's adult daughter) became Elián González's principal caretaker, and quickly became a well-known television figure. Armando Gutierrez
Armando Gutierrez
Armando Gutierrez is a Cuban-American banker, political consultant and entrepreneur.- Background :Gutierrez was born in Cuba, then moved to the United States, where he spent several years in New Jersey and eventually settled in Miami, Florida...
, a local Cuban American businessman was self-appointed the family spokesperson. However, Juan Miguel, with the support of his nation's authorities, demanded that the boy be returned to the care of his father.
For much of early 2000, Elián González's plight dominated the news in the United States and in Cuba.
On January 21, 2000, González's grandmothers, Mariela Quintana and Raquel Rodríguez, flew from Havana to the United States to seek their grandson's return to Cuba. While they were able to meet with the boy only once (at the Miami Beach home of Barry University
Barry University
Barry University is a private, Catholic university, which was founded in 1940 in Miami Shores, Florida, a suburb north of Downtown Miami. It is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami....
president Sister Jeanne O'Laughlin), they journeyed to Washington and met with congressmen and Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
Janet Reno
Janet Reno
Janet Wood Reno is a former Attorney General of the United States . She was nominated by President Bill Clinton on February 11, 1993, and confirmed on March 11...
. After nine days of relentless media coverage (during which Republican lawmakers acknowledged they did not have the votes to pass a bill to give González U.S. citizenship), the two women returned to Cuba to "a hero's welcome".
On January 28, Spanish Foreign Minister Abel Matutes
Abel Matutes
Abel Matutes y Juan is a Spanish politician who served as Spain's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 6 May 1996 to 2000. Matutes was born in Ibiza on 31 October 1941 and his early political life was in that region. He was Mayor of Ibiza in 1970 and 1971 and became Senator for Ibiza and Formentera in...
called for the boy's return to Cuba, stating that international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
dictated the return. Meanwhile, the Miami Gonzálezes fought off allegations that they had offered Juan Miguel a house and a car if he abandoned the action and joined his son in Miami.
Through January and February, Juan Miguel sent a number of open letters to the U.S. Government (they were published in, among other places, the Cuban newspaper Granma
Granma (newspaper)
Granma is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party.Its name comes from the yacht Granma that carried Fidel Castro and 81 other rebels to Cuba's shores in 1956 launching the Cuban Revolution.-Editions:...
) demanding the return of his son and refusing the Miami relatives' demands.
On March 21, a Federal judge dismissed the relatives' petition for asylum which they had filed on behalf of Elián González. Lázaro vowed to appeal. On March 29, Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas
Alex Penelas
Alexander "Alex" Penelas is the former mayor of Miami-Dade County, Florida.-Schooling and personal life:Penelas, an American of Cuban descent, attended college at St. Thomas University...
was joined by 22 other civic leaders in a speech in downtown Miami. Penelas indicated that the municipality would not cooperate with Federal authorities on any repatriation of the boy, and would not lend police or other assistance in taking the boy.
On April 14, a video was released in which González tells Juan Miguel that he wants to stay in the United States. However, many considered that he had been coached, as a male voice was heard off-camera directing the young boy. In a September 2005 interview with 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
after being sent back to Cuba, González stated that during his stay in the U.S., his family members were "telling me bad things about [my father]," and "were also telling me to tell him that I did not want to go back to Cuba, and I always told them I wanted to."
Elián González remained a subject of media attention as he went to Walt Disney World Resort
Walt Disney World Resort
Walt Disney World Resort , is the world's most-visited entertaimental resort. Located in Lake Buena Vista, Florida ; approximately southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States, the resort covers an area of and includes four theme parks, two water parks, 23 on-site themed resort hotels Walt...
one day, then met with politicians the next. Throughout the custody battle, opinion polls showed that around 42% of Americans thought González should be returned to his father immediately, 31% thought that the decision should be made following full family custody hearings, 14% wanted asylum appeals heard first, and 4% thought that González should never be returned to Cuba. On April 19, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruled that González must stay in the U.S. until the Miami Gonzálezes could appeal for an asylum hearing in May.
Elián taken by federal authorities
Attorney generalAttorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
Janet Reno
Janet Reno
Janet Wood Reno is a former Attorney General of the United States . She was nominated by President Bill Clinton on February 11, 1993, and confirmed on March 11...
ordered the return of Elián to his father and set a deadline of April 13, 2000, but the Miami relatives defied the order. Negotiations continued for several days as the house was surrounded by protesters as well as police. The relatives insisted on guarantees that they could live with the child for several months and retain custody, and that Elián would not be returned to Cuba. Negotiations carried on throughout the night, but Reno stated that the relatives rejected all workable solutions. A Florida family court judge revoked Lázaro's temporary custody, clearing the way for Elián to be returned to his father's custody. On April 20, Reno made the decision to remove Elián González from the house and instructed law enforcement officials to determine the best time to obtain the boy. After being informed of the decision, Marisleysis said to a Justice Department community relations officer, "You think we just have cameras in the house? If people try to come in, they could be hurt."
SWAT
A SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in various national law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...
-equipped agents of the Border Patrol
United States Border Patrol
The United States Border Patrol is a federal law enforcement agency within U.S. Customs and Border Protection , a component of the Department of Homeland Security . It is an agency in the Department of Homeland Security that enforces laws and regulations for the admission of foreign-born persons to...
's elite BORTAC
BORTAC
BORTAC is an initialism for the United States "Border Patrol Tactical Unit". BORTAC is the paramilitary arm of the United States Border Patrol.-Mission:...
unit as part of an operation in which more than 130 INS personnel took part approached the house; they knocked, and identified themselves. When no one responded from within, they entered the house. Pepper-spray and mace were employed against those outside the house who attempted to interfere. Nonetheless, a stool, rocks, and bottles were thrown at the agents. In the confusion Armando Gutierrez
Armando Gutierrez
Armando Gutierrez is a Cuban-American banker, political consultant and entrepreneur.- Background :Gutierrez was born in Cuba, then moved to the United States, where he spent several years in New Jersey and eventually settled in Miami, Florida...
called in Alan Diaz
Alan Diaz
Alan Diaz is an American photographer who won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography for his photograph of the United States Border Patrol's BORTAC team's seizure of Elian Gonzalez....
, of the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, to enter the house and entered a room with Elián, his great uncle's wife Angela Lázaro, her niece, the niece's young son, and Donato Dalrymple (one of the fishermen who had rescued him from the ocean). They waited in the room listening to agents searching the house. Diaz took a widely publicized photograph of a border patrol agent discovering Dalrymple and the boy hiding in a closet.
INS also stated in the days after the raid that they had identified as many as two dozen persons who were "prepared to thwart any government operation," some of whom had concealed weapons while others had criminal record
Criminal record
A criminal record is a record of a person's criminal history, generally used by potential employers, lenders etc. to assess his or her trustworthiness. The information included in a criminal record varies between countries and even between jurisdictions within a country...
s. The INS noted reported statements made by members of the Lázaro family that they were prepared to deal with any intrusion on their property by force if authorities attempted to take Elián without their consent.
"Assassins!" yelled some of the approximately 100 protesters, some of whom climbed over the barricades in an attempt to stop the agents. Within an hour of the raid, the crowd in Little Havana quickly swelled to about 300. Hundreds of outraged protesters poured out into the streets of Little Havana
Little Havana
Little Havana is a neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. Home to many Cuban immigrant residents, Little Havana is named after Havana, the capital and largest city in Cuba. The approximate boundaries are the Miami River , SW 16th Street , SR 9/West 27th Avenue and I-95...
and demonstrated, burning garbage containers, tires, and trees. Crowds jammed a more than 10-block area of Little Havana. Police in riot gear were deployed and tear gas was used. Shortly afterwards, many Miami-Dade County
Miami-Dade County, Florida
Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the state of Florida. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 2,496,435, making it the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States...
businesses closed, as their owners and managers participated in a short boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
.
Public opinion about the INS raid on the Miami González's house was widely polarized. A Time magazine issue showed a joyful photo of Elián being reunited with his father (the caption says "Papa!"), while Newsweek ran an issue that focused on the raid, entitled "Seizing Elián." There were two major foci in the coverage: the INS raid and the family reunions.
Elián returned to father's custody
Andrews Air Force Base
Joint Base Andrews is a United States military facility located in Prince George's County, Maryland. The facility is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force 11th Wing, Air Force District of Washington ....
. The next day, the White House released a photograph showing a smiling Elián reunited with his father, which the Miami relatives disputed by claiming that it was a fake Elián in the photograph. Later, Elián and his family were to be taken to the Aspen Institute Wye River Conference Center (formerly known as "Wye Plantation"). The media was barred from access to the family. While the family was still at Andrews, New Hampshire Senator Bob Smith
Robert C. Smith
Robert C. "Bob" Smith is an American politician who has served in both the United States House of Representatives and the Senate. He is a member of the Republican Party.-Early life:Smith was born in Trenton, New Jersey...
, escorting the Miami González, was turned away from the base by guards. The May 5, 2000, Miami Herald reported that Elián was joined by his classmates (without their parents) and his teacher from his hometown, Cárdenas
Cárdenas, Matanzas, Cuba
Cárdenas is a municipality and city in the Matanzas Province of Cuba, about east of Havana.-Geography:Cárdenas is a maritime port town on the level and somewhat marshy shore of a spacious bay of the northern coast of the island , sheltered by a long promontory...
. Granma
Granma (newspaper)
Granma is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party.Its name comes from the yacht Granma that carried Fidel Castro and 81 other rebels to Cuba's shores in 1956 launching the Cuban Revolution.-Editions:...
released pictures of Elián in the Young Pioneer
José Martí Pioneer Organization
Cuba's José Martí Pioneer Organization was established in 1961, created as a replacement for the banned Asociación de Scouts de Cuba.The organization gets its name from Cuban writer and nationalist hero José Martí....
uniform of Cuba's Communist youth league. On May 6, 2000, attorney Greg Craig
Greg Craig
Gregory Bestor "Greg" Craig is a Washington-based lawyer and former White House Counsel under President Barack Obama. He has represented numerous high-profile clients, including John W. Hinckley, Jr., who was acquitted of the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan by reason of insanity, and, in...
took Elián and Juan Miguel to a dinner in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC, hosted by Smith and Elizabeth Bagley.
After Elián was returned to his father's custody, he remained in the U.S. while the Miami relatives exhausted their legal options. A three-judge federal panel had ruled that he could not go back to Cuba until he was granted an asylum hearing, but the case turned on the right of the relatives to request that hearing on behalf of the boy. On June 1, 2000, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Elián was too young to file for asylum; only his father could speak for him, and the relatives lacked legal standing
Standing (law)
In law, standing or locus standi is the term for the ability of a party to demonstrate to the court sufficient connection to and harm from the law or action challenged to support that party's participation in the case...
. On June 28, 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the decision. Later the same day, Elián González and his family returned home to Cuba.
Return to Cuba
Keith Morrison
Keith Morrison is a Canadian, veteran broadcast journalist. Since 1995, he has been a correspondent for Dateline NBC.-Career:...
of the NBC News
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
program Dateline NBC
Dateline NBC
Dateline NBC, or Dateline, is a U.S. weekly television newsmagazine broadcast by NBC. It previously was NBC's flagship news magazine, but now focuses on true crime stories. It airs Friday at 9 p.m. EST and after football season on Sunday at 7 p.m. EST.-History:Dateline is historically notable for...
and Cover to Cover on CNBC
CNBC
CNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...
. Juan Miguel told Morrison that Elián feared reporters, so Morrison could not interview Elián, but Juan Miguel filmed a home video on which Elián was shown doing his arithmetic homework with Juan Miguel in their dining room, going to bed in his bedroom with his younger half-brother, and attending karate lessons. Elián's family had moved to another home to evade reporters.
Morrison's TV report also showed an 18th-century building in Cárdenas which was previously used as a fire station
Fire station
A fire station is a structure or other area set aside for storage of firefighting apparatus , personal protective equipment, fire hose, fire extinguishers, and other fire extinguishing equipment...
and which was renovated and inaugurated on July 14, 2001, as a museum, called Museo de la Batalla de Ideas ("Museum of the Battle of Ideas"), which includes an Elián exhibition room with a life-size bronze statue of Elián raising a clenched fist. The former González home in Miami has similarly been turned into a museum, with the boy's bedroom left unaltered. Juan Miguel is also a member of the National Assembly
National Assembly of People's Power of Cuba
The National Assembly of People’s Power is the legislative parliament of the Republic of Cuba and the supreme body of State power. Its members are elected from single-member electoral districts for a term of five years. The Assembly's current President is Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada. The assembly...
and has attended events for the Communist Party of Cuba
Communist Party of Cuba
The Communist Party of Cuba is the governing political party in Cuba. It is a communist party of the Marxist-Leninist model. The Cuban constitution ascribes the role of the Party to be the "leading force of society and of the state"...
with Elián, who has been called up to the stage to meet Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
. Castro also attended a filmed birthday party of Elián with his schoolmates. On the video of the birthday party, a female clown told Elián to blow out the birthday candles with Fidel to his right and surrounded by Elián's schoolmates.
In September 2005, Elián was interviewed by 60 Minutes and stated during the interview that Fidel Castro was a friend, and that he considers Castro "not only as a friend but as a father" although Elian's aunt Angela Gonzalez, said she doubted whether the interview represented his true beliefs because of the controls imposed by Cuba on information
Censorship in Cuba
Censorship in Cuba has been reported on extensively, and resulted in European Union sanctions as well as statements of protest from groups, governments, and noted individuals....
. In December 2006, an ill Fidel Castro was unable to attend González's 13th birthday celebration, so his brother Raúl
Raúl Castro
Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz is a Cuban politician and revolutionary who has been President of the Council of State of Cuba and the President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba since 2008; he previously exercised presidential powers in an acting capacity from 2006 to 2008...
stood in instead.
On August 16, 2006, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of an excessive force lawsuit brought by Dalrymple and others against the Federal Government and Reno.
González joined the Young Communist Union of Cuba in June 2008 shortly after graduating junior high school. At age 15, he began military school.
Ramifications
The Elián González saga exposed deep divisions among the residents of Miami-Dade County. While there were protests in favor of Elián staying in the United States, there were similar demonstrations in favor of sending the boy back to live with his father.Commentators have suggested that the Elián González affair may have been a factor in voters' decisions in the 2000 United States presidential election, which could have affected the close outcome in Florida. Al Gore's handling of the matter may have been as great a factor as anger by the predominantly Republican Cuban community over the boy's return to Cuba. Gore initially supported Republican legislation to give the boy and his father permanent residence status, but later supported the Administration position. He was attacked both for pandering and being inconsistent.
See also
- Cuban exileCuban exileThe term "Cuban exile" refers to the many Cubans who have sought alternative political or economic conditions outside the island, dating back to the Ten Years' War and the struggle for Cuban independence during the 19th century...
- Cuba – United States relations
- Operation Peter PanOperation Peter PanOperation Peter Pan , was an operation coordinated by the United States government , the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami, and certain Cubans. Between 1960 and 1962, over 14,000 children were sent from Cuba to Miami by their parents...
(1960–1962) - Yossele SchumacherYossele SchumacherYossele Schumacher is an Israeli whose abduction as a child became a cause célèbre in Israel and led Shin Bet and its director Isser Harel on a worldwide search for his whereabouts.-Abduction:...
, a similar affair - Polovchak v. MeesePolovchak v. MeesePolovchak v. Meese, 774 F.2d 731 was an American federal legal case involving a 12-year-old who did not want to leave the United States and return with his parents to Ukraine....
, an earlier child asylum case (1980–1985), viewed by some as a precedent
Further reading
- De La Torre, Miguel A.Miguel A. De La TorreMiguel A. De La Torre is a professor of Social Ethics and Latino/a Studies at Iliff School of Theology, a religious scholar, author, and an ordained minister.-Biography:...
, "La Lucha for Cuba: Religion and Politics on the Streets of Miami," University of California Press, 2003.
External links
- A Brief History of the Elian Gonzalez Affair - slideshow by TimeTime (magazine)Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine - Official Cuban website: about the custody battle for Elián
- BORTAC: defusing the hot spots, CBP Today - May 2004 article on U.S. Border Patrol BORTACBORTACBORTAC is an initialism for the United States "Border Patrol Tactical Unit". BORTAC is the paramilitary arm of the United States Border Patrol.-Mission:...
Program - Elián González and the Cuban Crisis: 10 years later expose by The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
- Elián: What Have We Learned?