http://news.findlaw.com/legalnews/s/20000420/elianimmigration.html [04/20] MIAMI (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court ruling that will keep Cuban castaway Elian Gonzalez in the United States contains hints of a potentially important shift in immigration law that could force political asylum hearings for thousands of immigrants, legal experts said Thursday. While the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled narrowly that 6-year-old Elian, the subject of a fierce custody battle between his Cuban father and relatives in Miami, could not leave the country for the time being, the three-judge panel appeared to question the Immigration and Naturalization Service's handling of the highly politicized case. The appellate court made no explicit ruling on broader issues but its questioning of the INS interpretation of a statute that says ``any alien ... may apply for asylum'' could have an impact on the government's handling of thousands of immigrant children every year, experts said. Throughout the five-month custody battle that followed Elian's arrival in Florida after he survived a migrant boat disaster in which his mother and 10 others died, INS officials have maintained that only Elian's father, Cuban tourism worker Juan Miguel Gonzalez, has the right to speak for his child. The Miami relatives who have been looking after Elian and refused to return him to his father -- arguing he should not grow up under communism in Cuba -- say Elian has the right to an asylum hearing to determine where he wants to live. In its ruling Wednesday, the three-judge appellate panel noted that U.S. statutes say ``any alien ... irrespective of such alien's status, may apply for asylum'' and wrote, ``If Congress had meant to include only some aliens, perhaps Congress would not have used the words 'any alien.''' The judges questioned why Elian could not exercise a statutory right to apply for asylum. ``To some people the idea that a 6-year-old child may file for asylum in the United States, contrary to the express wishes of his parents, may seem a strange or even foolish policy,'' they wrote. ``But this court does not make immigration policy and we cannot review the wisdom of statutes duly enacted by Congress.'' If the appellate court ultimately rules that the phrase ``any alien'' should be taken literally, without age restriction, it could open the floodgates to a torrent of unaccompanied minors entering the United States, experts said. ``That would be a highly risky and dangerous development that would put scores and indeed thousands of children at risk, not only from Cuba but from Mexico, Haiti, the Caribbean, the Pacific Rim, China, North Korea,'' said law professor Anthony Alfieri, director of the Center for Ethics and Public Service at the University of Miami. In 1999 the U.S. government repatriated 1,218 unaccompanied minors -- the highest number, 619, from Mexico, according to INS figures. In addition thousands of immigrants are turned back at border points after an interview with immigration inspectors but without court hearings. ``Clearly a very broad interpretation of the asylum statutes which will have positive effects for anyone seeking asylum in the future,'' said Ira Kurzban, a Miami immigration lawyer. ``It is saying even a 6-year-old child can apply for political asylum.'' Legal experts also expressed surprise that the Atlanta court seemed to give credence to Elian's signature on court documents, particularly when the boy speaks little or no English and is by the account of some psychologists suffering post traumatic stress disorder. ``According to the record, plaintiff -- although a young child -- has expressed a wish that he not be returned to Cuba. He personally signed an application for asylum,'' they wrote. ``It seems an altogether puzzling remark,'' Alfieri said. ''Family courts historically have conceded little or no weight to that kind of conduct of a 6-year-old.'' The Federation for American Immigration Reform, a Washington, D.C.-based education and lobbying group that favors a reduction in U.S. immigration, said it would watch the Elian appellate process carefully because the judges appeared to have taken literally the ``any alien'' statute. ``Where it is of concern would be only if they were to try to use that literalist interpretation as a means for looking at the expedited asylum screening process at points of entry,'' the group's special projects coordinator Jack Martin said. ``Under reforms in 1996, asylum applications may be decided under a special procedure that allows quick decisions and the return of ineligible asylum applicants without going through a full judicial hearing.'' Alfieri pointed out that in his March 22 decision to dismiss the Miami relatives' claim, Miami U.S. District Judge Michael Moore had correctly noted the ``profound public policy implications of an INS policy change that would permit a flood of unaccompanied minors to enter the United States.'' ``Broadening political asylum hearing rights, while perhaps justifiable on human rights grounds, creates an administrative burden and a burden for the United States as a nation,'' Alfieri said. Last Updated: 04/20/00 15:49 EDT <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html <A HREF="http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
