By Laura Parker and Kevin Johnson. USA TODAY. May 2, 2000
WASHINGTON -- A poll showed that Americans continued to approve of the Justice Department's decision to remove Elian Gonzalez, 6, from his relatives and reunite him with his father. A majority, however, disapproved of the way the government conducted its raid on the Miami home of his relatives.
Americans opposed congressional hearings on the raid, although opposition is waning. Several Republican leaders have called for an investigation of whether Immigration and Naturalization Service agents used too much force when they raided the Little Havana home of Lazaro Gonzalez, Elian's
great-uncle, on April 22. No date has been set for hearings.
A USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll, conducted over the weekend, showed about two-thirds of Americans said Elian should be allowed to return to Cuba with his father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, rather than live with his Miami relatives.
Meanwhile, Elian's father asked a federal appeals court Monday to dismiss a request for an asylum hearing for the boy, so the family can return to the Cuban village, Cardenas, where Elian was born.
In strongly worded papers filed with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, lawyers for the father attacked the asylum applications brought by the boy's Miami relatives as frivolous acts that could do ''great damage'' to the boy.
Lawyers for Lazaro Gonzalez filed a brief arguing that the INS subverted Elian's right to apply for asylum. They said the refusal to consider Elian's right ''profoundly offends any principle of fairness or due process.'' Lazaro Gonzalez's lawyers also repeated his request that a guardian be
appointed to represent Elian's interests. ''Elian is truly not invisible before the eyes of our laws and urgently needs a guardian,'' the brief said.
The father's lawyers accused Lazaro of being ''totally ignorant'' of Juan Miguel's relationships with the boy and his mother, who died at sea in November while attempting to flee Cuba. The boy survived the shipwreck, and the battle for his custody has been raging since he was placed in Lazaro's
care.
''As to Lazaro's past history with Elian, his sole contact with Elian came in 1998,'' when Lazaro visited Cardenas, the lawyers said. ''According to Juan Miguel, Lazaro paid no attention to the boy during that visit.''
Lawyers for Lazaro could not be reached for comment. The appeals court is scheduled to hear arguments May 11 on the family's request for an asylum hearing.
Americans regarded the issue of parental custody as more important than the issue of political asylum, according to the poll. Three of five said children from other countries should not be able to seek political asylum in the USA on their own, without the involvement of their parents.
Americans were willing to see Elian returned to Cuba despite their concern that he faces hardships there. About 45% said he would have a worse life in Cuba than in the USA, while 18% said it would be better and 26% said about the same.
Americans were most closely divided on the methods used to remove Elian from his relatives' home: 43% approved, while 53% disapproved and 4% had no opinion.
As the Senate Judiciary Committee considers calling hearings on the raid, 54% of Americans said they disapproved of the hearings. Last week, 68% said the hearings should not be held.
The poll had an error of margin of +/-3 percentage points. |