Yahoo! News. March 30, 2000
Reno Urges Calm in Elian Case
By Michael J. Sniffen, Associated Press Writer.
WASHINGTON, 30 (AP) - Attorney General Janet Reno today appealed for calm in the growing political firestorm enveloping Elian Gonzalez, his father in Cuba and his relatives in the Cuban-American community of Miami.
``It is a community I was born in, and raised in,'' she said. ``It's a community I love, and when it's hurting, it hurts me.''
At her weekly news conference, Reno reiterated that the Clinton administration would try to be patient amid the clamor over custody of the 6-year-old boy, whose mother and 10 others died when their boat sank as they tried to flee to the United States last November.
As officials of the Immigration and Naturalization Service resumed discussions today with the boy's uncle over Washington's insistence that Elian's Cuban-American relatives accept whatever the courts rule, Reno voiced concern about possible unrest in Miami.
Of Cuban-Americans, she said, ``These people have made a very wonderful contribution to that community. They have worked very hard. ... They are also very warm and generous people and they also believe passionately in what they believe in.
``The mother died, the boy survived miraculously. Relatives have taken him in and they have cared for him and love him dearly,'' Reno added. ``This case has been heartbreaking for everybody involved but we believe the law is clear. The father must speak for the little boy because there is a
sacred bond that must be honored - and the boy must be reunited with his father.''
Reno said the federal government could have moved by now to take custody of the boy, but has practiced a patient, cautious approach.
``Nothing, no court order, prevented us from doing so,'' she said. ``The relatives had their day in court and we gave them an opportunity to file. A federal district court judge in Miami heard their case and affirmed our decision.''
She noted that ``we have been engaged in conversation and we are continuing conversation in Miami to try to work out a resolution to ensure that an appeal is heard in a timely way. And nothing will be done to return Elian if that happens and everybody agrees that they will abide by the ruling
that comes down.''
The attorney general declined to discuss what officials would do if the boy's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, travels to the United States.
``I don't deal in what-ifs,'' she told reporters.
Asked if the federal government is prepared ultimately to enforce the law, Reno replied, ``You bet.''
She voiced concern about statements Wednesday indicating local police would not be allowed to assist federal authorities if, and when, a decision is made to remove him from his great-uncle's home.
``Some officials yesterday decided that if we take action, it is a provocation,'' Reno said, ``provoking a people that would produce risks that would contribute to violence.
``They said they would not be responsible for that, but that I would be,'' she added. ``The people that I know in that community came to this country and contributed so much to it because they believe in the rule of law. They came to this country seeking a democratic society. ... I don't think
they came to this country to incite violence.''
Copyright © 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Lawmakers Try To Keep Elian in U.S.
WASHINGTON, 30 (AP) - Supporters of legislation seeking to block the deportation of 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez to Cuba say their chances of success are slight.
Sen. Bob Smith, R-N.H., principal author of legislation introduced Wednesday, said the drama unfolding in Miami presented a ``frightful'' possibility: ``a little boy being dragged from his home by law enforcement people and sent to Cuba. The Senate can stop this.''
And Sen. Connie Mack, R-Fla., accused the Justice Department in a Senate floor speech of putting ``unrealistic demands'' on the boy and those caring for him.
``The government ... has bulldozed over the rights of Elian and his Miami family,'' Mack said.
Despite the heightened emotions, Smith said he didn't know whether his measure would find much support, and conceded that opponents could find parliamentary ways to delay it.
Smith said his legislation offers an alternative to colleagues who want to do something to allow the youthful shipwreck victim to remain in Florida - but don't want to impose U.S. citizenship on him.
The bill would give Elian the residency status immediately while offering the same protection to his father and other Cuban relatives should they come to the United States, Smith said.
The full citizenship bill, by Mack, is also before Congress but leaders in both chambers have made no moves to bring it to a vote.
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., will take ``a serious look'' at the new proposal and decide whether it should be scheduled for floor action, said Lott spokesman John Czwartacki.
Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he sees no more support in Congress for the ``permanent residency'' measure than for the original citizenship bill.
``We have a youth who's been made a political pawn,'' said Leahy. ``Just let the child be with his father.''
Copyright © 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Reno Urges Calm in Elian Case
By MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Attorney General Janet Reno today appealed for calm in the growing political firestorm enveloping Elian Gonzalez, his father in Cuba and his relatives in the Cuban-American community of Miami.
``It is a community I was born in, and raised in,'' she said. ``It's a community I love, and when it's hurting, it hurts me.''
At her weekly news conference, Reno reiterated that the Clinton administration would try to be patient amid the clamor over custody of the 6-year-old boy, whose mother and 10 others died when their boat sank as they tried to flee to the United States last November.
As officials of the Immigration and Naturalization Service resumed discussions today with the boy's uncle over Washington's insistence that Elian's Cuban-American relatives accept whatever the courts rule, Reno voiced concern about possible unrest in Miami.
Of Cuban-Americans, she said, ``These people have made a very wonderful contribution to that community. They have worked very hard. ... They are also very warm and generous people and they also believe passionately in what they believe in.
``The mother died, the boy survived miraculously. Relatives have taken him in and they have cared for him and love him dearly,'' Reno added. ``This case has been heartbreaking for everybody involved but we believe the law is clear. The father must speak for the little boy because there is a
sacred bond that must be honored - and the boy must be reunited with his father.''
Reno said the federal government could have moved by now to take custody of the boy, but has practiced a patient, cautious approach.
``Nothing, no court order, prevented us from doing so,'' she said. ``The relatives had their day in court and we gave them an opportunity to file. A federal district court judge in Miami heard their case and affirmed our decision.''
She noted that ``we have been engaged in conversation and we are continuing conversation in Miami to try to work out a resolution to ensure that an appeal is heard in a timely way. And nothing will be done to return Elian if that happens and everybody agrees that they will abide by the ruling
that comes down.''
The attorney general declined to discuss what officials would do if the boy's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, travels to the United States.
``I don't deal in what-ifs,'' she told reporters.
Asked if the federal government is prepared ultimately to enforce the law, Reno replied, ``You bet.''
She voiced concern about statements Wednesday indicating local police would not be allowed to assist federal authorities if, and when, a decision is made to remove him from his great-uncle's home.
``Some officials yesterday decided that if we take action, it is a provocation,'' Reno said, ``provoking a people that would produce risks that would contribute to violence.
``They said they would not be responsible for that, but that I would be,'' she added. ``The people that I know in that community came to this country and contributed so much to it because they believe in the rule of law. They came to this country seeking a democratic society. ... I don't think
they came to this country to incite violence.''
Copyright © 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Elian Status Revocation Delayed
By ALEX VEIGA, Associated Press Writer
MIAMI (AP) - With Elian Gonzalez's Miami relatives and the U.S. government still at an impasse, Cuban leader Fidel Castro announced that the 6-year-old's father is ready to travel to the United States to retrieve him.
Federal officials, meanwhile, delayed revoking Elian Gonzalez's temporary status until Friday. Immigration officials and the boy's great-uncle met for five hours Wednesday and planned to meet again on Thursday.
Castro's announcement came during a live television broadcast Wednesday. He said Juan Miguel Gonzalez ``is ready to immediately'' go with a group of Elian's friends and relatives, but he added that the trip was conditional on guarantees that the U.S. government would turn Elian over to his
father or at least make a maximum effort to do so.
It was the first time anyone has said the boy's father would be willing to stay in the United States during the legal process.
``The passports are ready,'' Castro said. ``And of course the airplane is ready.''
State Department officials said Wednesday that they had not received a visa request from the boy's father.
Phone calls placed to Gonzalez's home in Cardenas, Cuba, rang unanswered.
The Immigration and Naturalization Service is demanding that Elian's Miami relatives promise in writing to hand him over if they lose their court battle to keep him in this country. The INS had said it would revoke the boy's temporary permission to stay in the United States at 9 a.m. Thursday if
the family did not agree, but it moved that deadline back 24 hours.
A government source, who asked not to be identified, said the government believed an agreement could be reached with the family.
If Elian's father comes to Miami, though, that situation could quickly change, the source said.
``The presence of the father represents a change in circumstances that would put the INS in a position to be hard pressed not to turn over Elian to him,'' the source said.
Elian has been living in Miami with his great-uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez, since he was found in November on an inner tube off the coast of Florida. The boy's mother and 10 others died when their boat sank while they were trying to reach the United States.
Without an agreement, the INS will tell the boy's great-uncle how and when he is to relinquish custody of Elian, said INS spokeswoman Maria Cardona in Washington.
Cardona would not say exactly what timetable would be given. Officials would not say whether they would pick up Elian or ask the uncle to deliver him somewhere.
Lazaro Gonzalez has said he would be willing to release Elian to his father if Juan Miguel Gonzalez came to Florida from Cuba, but he said he would not deliver the boy to the INS.
``The boy lives in my house, and they'll have to go find him there,'' Lazaro Gonzalez told Spanish-language network Telemundo.
Before Wednesday's meeting between the Miami relatives and the INS got under way, the Miami relatives' lawyer, Kendall Coffey, said: ``We are not going to sign what we consider to be a blank check that could have a psychological effect on the child.''
Wednesday evening, about 1,000 people holding flashlights and candles filled the Little Havana neighborhood around Elian's house in a prayer vigil led by Miami religious leaders.
At one point, Elian was brought outside, riding on the shoulders of a family friend. As he smiled and waved his arms, the crowd cheered and chanted ``Elian! Elian!''
``The family will stay with Elian until the last minute,'' family spokesman Armando Gutierrez told the crowd.
Some demonstrators have talked of forming a human chain and laying down their lives to prevent the little boy from being taken away.
``The federal authorities of INS need to understand that we are free and this is a country of laws and we are not going to accept their stubbornness. We are not going to allow them to take the kid,'' said Oscar Pupo, 56, a Cuban-born U.S. citizen who was in the neighborhood earlier in the day
when about 60 trucks blocked the streets in protest.
The INS has said it would not do anything that would traumatize the boy. INS spokeswoman Karen Kraushaar said her agency has ``gone to great lengths to bring about a resolution that is carried out in a manner that creates as little disruption for Elian as possible.''
The U.S. relatives have asked a federal appeals court in Atlanta to overturn a federal judge's ruling affirming an INS decision to send Elian back to Cuba. The court has scheduled arguments for the week of May 8.
Also Wednesday:
-Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas announced that he will not let the police help federal officials remove the boy from his great-uncle's home, though police officers would help keep the peace.
Penelas and the mayors of 22 nearby towns warned they would hold President Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno responsible for any violence that breaks out if immigration officials try to return the boy to Cuba.
-In Washington, a group of U.S. lawmakers seeking to block the deportation of the child introduced legislation to confer permanent American residency status on Elian and nearly all his Cuban relatives. But even supporters of the measure - written by Sen. Bob Smith, R-N.H. - suggested its chances
of being enacted seemed slight.
President Clinton, in a news conference at the White House, said: ``I have done my best not to overly politicize this. And I don't think we should. There is a legal process here; we ought to let it play out.''
-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and his Cabinet adopted a resolution Wednesday asking the U.S. government to allow the appeals process to continue. In a letter, Bush also urged Reno and Clinton to instruct the INS to remove the pledge requirement.
-ABC, meanwhile, aired footage of the boy saying he didn't want to be sent to Cuba. On ``Good Morning America,'' Elian said in Spanish that he didn't want his father to visit him in Miami ``because he'll take me to Cuba and I don't want to go to Cuba.''
Asked if he would like it if his father stayed in Miami, he answered: ``He can stay here. I don't want to go.''
EDITOR'S NOTE - AP reporter Michael J. Sniffen contributed to this report from Washington.
Copyright © 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. |