CNN. March 22, 2000. From staff and wire reports
The INS has ordered Elian to be reunited with his father in Cuba. But his relatives in Miami are trying to prevent that, saying he deserves the opportunity to live in the United States
MIAMI (CNN) -- A U.S. government official said Wednesday that while no timetable exists to return Elian Gonzalez to Cuba, the United States will not wait for an appeals process to "drag on forever."
But an attorney for Elian, appearing on CNN's "TalkBack Live," said the 6-year-old boy faces a life of government indoctrination and control if he is returned to Cuba.
"He would effectively be a prize trophy," said attorney Kendall Coffey, who suggested that Cuba won't be willing to "have this little boy going around saying how much he enjoyed being in this country, how much he misses his mother, how much he values the dying wish of his mother
that he live in a land of freedom.
"I don't think anybody seriously believes that the Castro regime is going to allow little boy to hang on to the beliefs that he presently has."
The boy's cousin, Georgina Cid Cruz, has said that "Elian has been saying over and over again that he doesn't see why he has to go back. I don't think sending him back is in his best interest."
Lawyers representing boy file appeal
For now, Elian's legal team is focusing on their next step. The attorneys filed a notice of appeal with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta on Tuesday, hours after U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore dismissed the Miami family's lawsuit and affirmed the government's decision to
return Elian to his father in Cuba.
And the family's attorneys have said they will go to the Supreme Court if necessary to keep the boy in the United States.
After Moore threw out the political asylum lawsuit filed on Elian's behalf, Attorney General Janet Reno said the boy and his father should be reunited "in an orderly, prompt and fair way."
Expert says 'There is no automatic stay'
And while the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service has not attempted to revoke the temporary parole status granted to the youngster -- a step required before the boy can be returned to Cuba -- a government official familiar with the case has said, "We never told them we would wait
out an appeal indefinitely."
INS spokeswoman Maria Cardona declined to speculate on when Elian would be returned to his father. "We are working on an orderly process to reunite Elian with his father," Cardona said.
Legal experts said the INS was free to return Elian at any time unless Moore or the appeals court issues a stay delaying implementation of the order.
"There is no automatic stay that attaches to the appeal," said Bernard Perlmutter, director of the University of Miami's Children and Youth Law Clinic.
The boy's lawyers say they are unlikely to ask for a temporary injunction at the moment to prevent the boy's return to Cuba pending appeal, and have no plans to ask the court to expedite the appeal.
Father willing to travel 'within hours'
Elian's mother drowned with 10 others when the boat she was traveling in from Cuba with her son overturned off the coast of Florida last November 25. He was found clinging to an inner tube and handed over to relatives in Miami.
Greg Craig, the U.S. lawyer representing Elian's father, arrived at the Justice Department late Wednesday for a meeting with Reno and INS Commissioner Doris Meissner to discuss the boy's case in wake of Tuesday's ruling by Judge Moore.
One source close to the case described the session as "just another in a series of meetings."
Craig, who as White House Special Counsel helped defend President Clinton in his Senate trial, has said Juan Miguel Gonzalez will come to the United States "within hours" when the U.S. government tells him he can collect his son without getting involved in any further legal battles.
If Elian Gonzalez remains in the United States for one year and a day, he could be eligible to apply for resident status under the Cuban Adjustment Act. However, that application is subject to the approval of INS.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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