By Maia Davis. Staff Writer. Friday, June 2, 2000. The Record Online. Bergen.com.
They're hurt. They're disappointed. But Cuban-American leaders in New Jersey said bruised feelings are the least of their concerns after Thursday's appeals court decision on Elian Gonzalez.
Although polls have shown that many Americans support the right of the boy's father to take him home, some Cuban-American leaders warned that the ruling sets a bad precedent for young children fleeing oppression. Other groups dedicated to protecting refugees expressed similar concerns.
Rep. Robert Menendez, D-Union City, said of the ruling that upholds the decision against giving 6-year-old Elian an asylum hearing: "They have sealed Elian's fate to life under a dictatorship." He added: "Not only have they sealed Elian's fate, but they have sealed the fate of all
children fleeing oppressive countries."
In such cases involving children, Menendez said during a stop in his hometown on Thursday, the Immigration and Naturalization Service should at least grant a hearing. "All along we've said that all we want is a day in court," he said.
The congressman was expressing the dominant view in the Cuban-American community since the winsome boy was rescued from the sea Thanksgiving Day.
But it is not the only view.
Yamila Figueroa came from Cuba four years ago, when she was 24. She said the country is oppressive, poor, and a bad place for children.
"They have no milk," Figueroa said, as she helped lead a gaggle of preschoolers along a busy commercial strip in Union City. She said she would prefer that Elian's father seek asylum here with his son. But she agrees with the INS that "he belongs to his father."
"If his father decides to leave, he should leave, too," Figueroa said.
But, refugee advocates said, the United States must be wary of always allowing parents to speak for children in asylum cases.
In some cases, said Wendy Young of the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, parents do not have children's best interests at heart. She gave the example of African girls who go against parents' wishes and seek asylum to avoid genital mutilation in their native countries.
"The bottom line is: Does the United States really want to be in the business of returning children to those types of abuses?" Young said.
She said her group takes no position on whether Elian should return to Cuba. But the commission, along with the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights and the Florida Immigration Advocacy Center, had filed a legal brief with the appeals court in Atlanta, defending the rights of children to seek
asylum.
She said her group wanted the court to require the INS to grant the boy at least a brief hearing. Now, she said, it is up to the INS to clarify its rules for future pint-size asylum seekers.
"God forbid we ever have to live through this again, or that any child has to live through this again," Young said.
Another Cuban-American leader from North Jersey who saw the appeals court ruling as a setback for children's rights was adamant.
"Elian was treated as property," said Remberto Perez of Tenafly, the Northeast regional director for the Cuban-American National Foundation, which is advising the boy's Miami relatives.
"If the American public knew what we know about Castro's Cuba, they would be as disappointed and hurt as we are about sending a little child back to this regime," Perez said.
Eugenia Martin agreed.
Fighting tears as she sat at a Union City restaurant counter, Martin, 52, recalled coming from Cuba without her parents when she was 13. Her father later died, and she is out of touch with her mother, who remains in Cuba.
She saw some irony in the ruling. "We're not allowed to send a roll of toilet paper to Cuba because of the embargo," Martin said. "And we're going to send a child. Does that make sense?"
Whether it makes sense or not, some groups that oppose America's long economic embargo of Cuba say they hope the Elian saga will hasten its end.
Gail Walker of the New York-based Pastors for Peace lauded Thursday's court decision and said she hopes the boy will be able to return to Cuba soon.
"If there's anything positive out of this whole tragedy, it's been the world focus on Cuba and the harmful impact of the embargo," Walker said. "We're opening trade with China; it's time to also do it with Cuba."
Staff Writer Elizabeth Llorente contributed to this article. Staff Writer Maia Davis' e-mail address is davis@bergen.com
Copyright © 2000 Bergen Record Corp. |