by William F. Jasper. The New American. May 22, 2000. Vol. 16, No. 11
Janet Reno's illegal seizure of Elian Gonzalez — in essence, a hit-and-run raid on the rule of law — threatens the liberty and safety of every American.
It was Holy Saturday, the day before Easter, the most sacred of Christian holy days. In a pre-dawn paramilitary raid, more than 150 federal agents swooped down on the home of Lazaro Gonzalez in Miami's Little Havana. Battering down the front door, a heavily armed SWAT team rampaged through the
house, knocking to the floor and trampling a crucifix and a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Furniture was overturned and destroyed; the Gonzalez family members and their attorneys were forced to the floor, cursed at, abused, and threatened.
According to Lazaro's terrified daughter, Marisleysis, one of the agents pointed a gun at her chest and shouted, "Give me the f***ing boy or I'll shoot.'' The boy he was after, of course, was her six-year-old cousin, Elian Gonzalez. Elian's mother, Elizabeth Brotons, died at sea in a
desperate attempt to flee from Communist Cuba to the United States. Since Elian's miraculous rescue on Thanksgiving Day last year, on that same fateful voyage that took his mother, Marisleysis had become his surrogate mother. "I beg you, please don't let the boy see the guns," Marisleysis
pleaded. "Please, I'll give him to you."
NBC News cameraman Tony Zumbado later recounted his experience inside the Gonzalez home during the raid: "As we were in there, we were told to lay on the floor, and we were — I was kicked in the stomach and pushed down, and they kinda like put their foot on my back and told me not to
move or else they were going to shoot." Pepper spray and tear gas, along with fear and the element of surprise, overwhelmed all those inside and outside the Gonzalez home.
The agents quickly found the object of their search in the arms of Donato Dalrymple, the fisherman who had pulled Elian from the ocean and who had become a close friend of the family. At the start of the raid, Dalrymple had scooped up the startled, frightened boy and backed into a closet. "Give
me the boy,'' an agent yelled, pointing a 9mm Heckler & Koch submachine gun at Dalrymple. The terror of that moment was captured on the face of Elian by Associated Press photographer Alan Diaz, whom the Gonzalez family had allowed inside the house just as the federal assault began. Elian was
grabbed by a female federal agent, wrapped in a blanket and rushed outside to a waiting van.
As the caravan of government vehicles sped away with the screaming boy, Elian's relatives, supporters, and the encamped media were left to deal with the shock and disbelief over what had just transpired. The feelings of outrage and stunned incredulity stood in stark contrast to the elation and
sense of triumph the family's supporters had felt the previous Wednesday.
Significant Victory
Three days before the raid, on April 19th, a federal court had delivered a stinging rebuke to Janet Reno and the Clinton administration, and had handed Elian's Uncle Lazaro a major victory. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit granted Lazaro's motion for an injunction prohibiting
Elian's removal from the United States. The court also denied the request by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to issue an order directing Lazaro to deliver Elian to the INS, at the place and time mandated by the INS.
Following that court victory, Lazaro, Marisleysis, and their attorneys continued negotiations with the INS and Justice Department for a mutually agreeable venue and conditions for reuniting Elian and his father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez. From the very beginning, the Miami family repeatedly had
invited Juan Miguel to come and be reunited with Elian. Most recently, Lazaro had sent a letter inviting his nephew to come spend Holy Week and Easter with his son. A continuing chief concern for the Miami relatives was that Juan Miguel, since his arrival in the U.S., had never been allowed outside
the tight control of Castro's secret police. Meanwhile, back in Cuba, Juan Miguel's parents and other family members had been placed under house arrest in a special Havana compound.
Lazaro insisted that Juan Miguel and his wife and child be allowed to meet with him, Elian, and Marisleysis in a secure, neutral venue without Castro's thugs, federal agents, lawyers, and news media. The Miami family had real and justified fears that unless such protections were built into any
meeting, Elian would be immediately whisked back to Communist Cuba. Attorney General Reno had previously confirmed the very real potential of that reality by telling reporters that once Juan Miguel (and his Cuban DGI handlers) had possession of Elian, there was nothing to keep him from taking the
boy back to Havana at any time.
The timing of the 11th Circuit Court's ruling was portentous: the seventh anniversary of the fatal federal raid on the Branch Davidian church at Waco, Texas. Surely, many thought, after the terrible loss of life in that deadly debacle, and the continuing storm of controversy over the
still-developing evidence of massive federal violations, the Clinton-Reno police statists would not risk another similar catastrophe. It was the Easter weekend, after all, and the Clinton/Reno forces, who daily prattled a tiresome mantra about "the rule of law," had just received a
judicial rebuke. Besides, Janet Reno had promised Miami religious leaders that she would not ravage Easter's peace, and some of Miami's most prominent citizens, with Reno's encouragement, had joined in the negotiation process. They had succeeded in hammering out an agreement and were on the phone
with Reno scant minutes before her troopers stormed into the Gonzalez home.
The Clinton line faithfully retailed by its media accomplices was that the "intransigent" Miami relatives sabotaged Reno's exhaustive, "good faith" efforts. The evidence points to an opposite, more sinister story: The Clinton regime had already decided to use force to get
what it had failed to obtain in court, and Reno's "negotiations" were mere color. After agreeing to a meeting and temporary cohabitation at a Florida venue between Juan Miguel, Elian, and Lazaro's family, Reno abruptly reversed course and said the Florida locale was out. She gave only five
minutes for the family to agree before declaring "time has run out." She had to make it look like it was the family's fault — that she "had to" resort to force.
The infamous Clinton spin machine and its media accomplices went into overdrive to justify this flagrant exercise of raw, lawless power. Alternately, President Clinton and his designated liars asserted that:
• Psychological experts had determined that Elian was in danger and needed immediate rescue.
• "Intelligence sources" had warned that dangerous individuals with guns were known to be in and around Lazaro Gonzalez' home, endangering Elian.
• Elian's Miami relatives were not negotiating in good faith and "kept moving the goal posts."
• Lazaro Gonzalez had flouted the law by refusing to bring Elian to the INS for transfer to Juan Miguel at the site they had selected.
"When all efforts failed," said President Clinton, "there was no alternative but to enforce the decision of the INS and the federal court that Juan Miguel Gonzalez should have custody of his son. The law has been upheld, and that was the right thing to do.'' The Washington Post
rushed to provide cover with a Sunday editorial proclaiming: "The government did the right thing … and it was the relatives who provoked it. They were wrong, they had been warned, they were in defiance of the law...."
The rest of the Establishment media chorus joined in bleating the same refrain. But let's take each of these fraudulent excuses in turn.
• None of the Clinton "health experts" making all the dire diagnoses of Elian's psychological state for media consumption had ever examined Elian (see page 20). These "experts" were Clintonista operatives who were disgorging political propaganda, not professional
psychological advice. They were handpicked for the task by Dr. Irwin Redlener, one of Hillary's advisors on socialized medicine. It was Dr. Redlener who made the outrageous claim that Elian had to be "rescued" for his own safety. The claims of the Redlener claque were refuted by
pediatricians and psychologists who had examined Elian.
• What was the source of the Clinton/Reno "intelligence" about the danger of "armed men" to Elian? Why that very reliable and totally impartial paragon of civic virtue, Fidel Castro, of course. The Reuters News Service reported on April 19th that Castro's "State
television said Cuba's senior diplomat in the United States, Fernando Remirez, delivered a formal note … to the State Department spelling out the allegations." Remirez, one of Fidel's top intelligence officers, warned the folks at Clinton State: ''From various sources, we have discovered
that among the demonstrators opposite the house where Elian Gonzalez is held kidnapped, there is a permanent presence of armed men who respond to … the most recalcitrant counter-revolutionary groups.'' Communist official Lazaro Barredo read the note on television, saying that it was evidence of
a ''grave risk'' to Elian's life. Shamefully, the Clinton administration took Castro at his word. It was just such phony "intelligence" about imminent danger to children that Team Clinton/Reno cited for their criminal actions at Waco that resulted in the gassing and incineration of 21
children.
• Operating in bad faith? Intransigence? Moving the goal posts? That's the Clinton regime, not the Miami relatives. The Miami Gonzalez family repeatedly welcomed Juan Miguel to their home or some other safe, neutral place, but sought assurances that Elian's right to his day in court would
not be trampled under by a Clinton regime anxious to please the Castro regime. Among the prominent Miami community leaders who had joined the mediation effort between Reno and Elian's relatives were University of Miami President Edward T. Foote II; Carlos de la Cruz, chairman of Eagle Brands foods;
Carlos Saladrigas, head of ADP Total Source; and lawyer Aaron Podhurst, a friend of Janet Reno for 30 years. Podhurst was on the phone with Reno and believed a deal was within grasp when the raid took place. He vehemently denied the Clinton/Reno claims. "The goalposts were moved by them,''
Podhurst said. "I've never been more devastated in my entire life.'' Rev. Francisco Santana, a personal religious advisor to the Gonzalez family and a key negotiator with the U.S. government, likewise felt betrayed. "I was personally assured by Janet Reno that the sacredness of the Holy
Week would be preserved, that nothing would be done until Monday," Rev. Santana said.
Was the federal raid on Lazaro Gonzalez' home a heroic defense of "the rule of law," as the Clintonites claim? No, it was a brazen, criminal use of the color of law to subvert the rights of American citizens and defy the rule of law.
Administration Lawlessness
"It is the Clinton administration that is violating the rule of law with regularity and seeming impunity," says Cuban-American legal scholar Dr. Alberto Luzarraga. "The whole idea of liberty is that you do not have to do everything that an administrative agency, a bureaucrat, or
even the president, orders you to do," Dr. Luzarraga told THE NEW AMERICAN. "Those elected and appointed officials are also subject to the Constitution and all laws enacted under the authority of the Constitution. Lazaro Gonzalez was under no legal obligation to deliver Elian to any place
designated by the INS. He publicly stated that he would not interfere with federal agents if they came for Elian, but that he would not take him elsewhere for delivery to the INS, which was his right. And the 11th Circuit Court vindicated Lazaro's position when it refused the INS motion to order him
to deliver the child."
Dr. Luzarraga is right. The President, Attorney General, and commissioner of the INS are officers of the executive branch. They do not make law; they are supposed to uphold and execute the law. Our Constitution specifies that "All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a
Congress of the United States…" and very strictly enumerates the areas over which Congress may legislate.
Our Founding Fathers strictly limited the central government's police powers to prevent exactly the kind of abuse that was committed against the Gonzalez home. That's what the Fourth Amendment is all about. In an April 25th op-ed in the New York Times, Laurence H. Tribe, professor of
constitutional law at Harvard University, blistered the Clinton administration's false claims of legal authority for its unlawful assault. Wrote Professor Tribe:
The fact is that even on the assumption (which I share) that under applicable legal and moral principles Elian should ultimately be reunited with his father, the government's actions appear to have violated a basic principle of our society, a principle whose preservation lies at the core of
ordered liberty under the rule of law.
Under the Constitution, it is axiomatic that the executive branch has no unilateral authority to enter people's homes forcibly to remove innocent individuals without taking the time to seek a warrant or other order from a judge or magistrate....
"The Justice Department points out," says Dr. Tribe, "that the agents who stormed the Miami home were armed not only with guns but with a search warrant. But it was not a warrant to seize the child. Elian was not lost, and it is a semantic sleight of hand to compare his forcible
removal to the seizure of evidence, which is what a search warrant is for." Is there anyone in the world who didn't know exactly where Elian Gonzalez was? He was seen playing in the front yard of the Gonzalez home every day by the hundreds (or thousands) of supporters and onlookers, and by
millions of television viewers.
Even Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, in the past one of Clinton's most rabid defenders, denounced the raid as a completely illegal operation. In an interview with Fox News anchor Paula Zahn, Dershowitz asserted that the raid confirmed the "terrible precedent that the administration
can act without court approval and break into the home of an American citizen." Concluded Dershowitz: "It's a dangerous day for all Americans."
In fact, we do not know for sure that Reno even bothered with getting a warrant in the first place, since it was not served, as required by law and as mandated in the warrant itself, when the federal agents barged into the Gonzalez home, and was not produced for Elian's attorneys and the press
until two days after the raid. In press statements immediately after the assault, Assistant Attorney General Eric Holder and other Clinton spokesmen stated that they hadn't needed a warrant for the raid, that they were operating under the authority of INS powers. Later they changed the story to
claim that they had had a warrant. Was it a "retroactive" warrant fraudulently dated? Who would be surprised if it were, after what we've witnessed in Monicagate, Lippogate, Chinagate, Panama Canalgate, etc.?
What is truly astounding is that the Clinton administration cabal has been able to get away with its sanctimonious hypocrisy about upholding the rule of law in the wake of the 11th Circuit Court's April 19th ruling. "We fully recognize the plenary power of Congress over immigration matters,"
the court stated, noting that "the heart of Plaintiff's appeal is that the INS — by refusing to consider Plaintiff's asylum application — has disregarded the command of Congress." In other words, the Clinton INS was inventing its own law rather than following the laws enacted by
Congress, as it is constitutionally bound to do.
"The statute in this case seems pretty clear," the court said. "Section 1158(a)(1) provides that '[a]ny alien … irrespective of such alien's status, may apply for asylum.'" And Elian, said the justices, "appears to come within the meaning of '[a]ny alien.'" The
court said that "the INS cannot properly infringe on the plain language of the statute or the clear congressional purpose underlying it."
Moreover, the court rebuked the Clinton/Reno INS for contradicting its own regulations in claiming that Elian's status as a minor made him ineligible for asylum, without his father's approval. "The existing INS regulations do envision situations where a minor may act on his own behalf in
immigration matters. Moreover, the regulations contemplate that a minor, under some circumstances, may seek asylum against the express wishes of his parents." The court cited the INS' own publication, Guidelines for Children's Asylum Claims, which states: "Officers should not assume that a
child cannot have an asylum claim independent of the parents."
The Guidelines further state:
When … it appears that the will of the parents and that of the child are in conflict, the adjudicator "will have to come to a decision as to the well-foundedness of the minor's fears on the basis of all the known circumstances, which may call for a liberal application of the benefit of
the doubt."
"Notably," the court said, "the training guidelines provide an example of a statement from a six-year-old child and provide information which can be used to assess statements by children of that age."
So what about all the repeated declarations over the past several months from Bill Clinton, Janet Reno, Doris Meissner, Greg Craig, et al? They have repeatedly insisted that Elian must be reunited with his father because "that's the law." Or that, as a minor, only Elian's father can
apply for asylum for him, because "that's the law." Well, (surprise!) it was a big bluff. "The INS has not pointed to (nor have we found) statutory, regulatory or guideline provisions which place an age-based restriction on an alien's ability to apply for asylum," said the court.
"And we have found no preexisting requirement that a minor … must act through the representative selected by the INS." Which is precisely what Elian's attorneys had been arguing for months, to the deaf ears of the Clintonite media and a cowardly Congress.
The federal court reminded the Clinton administration that the "INS placed Plaintiff in Lazaro's care upon Plaintiff's arrival in this country, and Lazaro is a blood relative." Moreover, it said, "it appears that never have INS officials attempted to interview Plaintiff about his
own wishes." The court ruled in Lazaro's (and Elian's) favor, stating that Elian "is enjoined from departing or attempting to depart from the United States." And, it added, "All officers, agents, and employees of the United States … are enjoined to take such reasonable and
lawful measures as necessary to prevent the removal of Plaintiff, Elian Gonzalez from the United States."
The 11th Circuit justices also noted that the INS had sought an order from the court "directing Lazaro Gonzalez to present the Plaintiff to the INS … for transfer of care to Plaintiff's father." "We decline to proceed in that manner," said the court. In short, the court
had denied Clinton the cover of law it had sought to turn Elian over to "Papa Fidel." Not to worry. There are plenty of weak and corrupt magistrates, and Clinton knows how to shop for warrants.
Senator Bob Smith (R-NH), who has championed Elian's case from the start, expressed the outrage of millions of Americans on the morning of April 22nd. "With the help of his mother, Elian Gonzalez escaped the totalitarian regime of Communist Cuba," said the senator in a scalding press
release. "This morning, in the United States of America, Elian was subjected to the type of violent police tactics better suited to the Gestapo or KGB than for a country or a government that is supposed to uphold the rule of law and protect our basic freedoms."
Not one to mince words, Senator Smith laid it on the line. "When Elian first arrived in America, Clinton and Reno both said Elian's case belonged in the custody courts," he noted. "Only after Fidel Castro issued an ultimatum to return the boy did the administration flip-flop and
turn this issue over to the INS. Abiding by the 'rule of law' does not mean arbitrarily changing the law to suit your own political purposes. Clinton seems, however, to have no problem sacrificing the lives of innocent people to advance his political agenda."
"This is a criminal president and a criminal justice department," Smith charged. "Today they committed a criminal act by violently ripping Elian from the arms of his family. I am ashamed, deeply saddened and disgusted at the way the Clinton/Reno regime has kowtowed to the whims of
some two-bit Communist despot."
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