[CTRL] Elian could return to Cuba in 5 days

[Shane A. Saylor, Eccentric Bard]

Elian could return to Cuba in 5 days

Relatives to file Supreme Court appeal
June 23, 2000
Web posted at: 8:42 p.m. EDT (0042 GMT)

>From staff and wire reports

ATLANTA (CNN) -- An appeals court decision Friday means Elian Gonzalez could
return to his native Cuba as early as next Wednesday.

"All injunctions in this case will dissolve" at 4 p.m. ET on June 28, the
11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Friday in its ruling against a
petition from the boy's Miami relatives.

Attorneys for the relatives plan to petition the Supreme Court on Monday.

"The family does not feel defeated and they still have faith in God that the
Supreme Court will accept the appeal in the same way God saved Elian from
drowning," said Armando Gutierrez, a spokesman for Elian's U.S. relatives.

The relatives had asked the court to rehear their request for an asylum
hearing for the 6-year-old boy.

They had said that, in case of a denial, they would ask the appellate court
for a stay to force Elian to remain in the United States. But the court's
decision ruled out that strategy.

"Any further requests for stays or for injunctive relief should be directed
to the Supreme Court," said the ruling, written by Circuit Judge J.L.
Edmondson. The appeals court, he wrote, will not grant any further motions
for a stay. The word "not" was written in boldface and large letters.

If the Miami relatives hope to force Elian to stay in the country, they will
also have to ask the Supreme Court to issue a stay while it decides whether
it will consider the case.

Attorney General Janet Reno applauded the appeals court's decision, which
upheld the Immigration and Naturalization Service's determination that only
Elian's father could speak for him in requesting an asylum hearing.

"Now that the court has conclusively upheld our decision, I am hopeful that
this father and son will soon be able to move on with their lives together,"
Reno said.

Gregory Craig, the lawyer for Elian's father, Juan Miguel, was also pleased
with the decision, saying it is "consistent with the rule of law and with
our nation's core values and traditions."

In a brief news conference, he told reporters he will meet with Juan Miguel
this weekend to discuss his plans when the order keeping his son in the
country expires Wednesday.

Elian's father, since his arrival in the United States, has said he will
take his son home with him to Cuba once the legal maneuvering by his Miami
relatives is over.

But the U.S. relatives have no plans to give up their legal battle to keep
Elian in the United States.

"We are hopeful our nation's Fourth of July celebration this year will not
be tarnished by the removal of a child from this land of freedom, to a land
of gross violence and extensively documented human rights' violations," said
Gutierrez.

Judges' decision unanimous
Roger Bernstein, one of the Miami family's lawyers, declined to say he was
disappointed with the ruling, but said "what we were hoping for was to at
least get a hearing and an opinion."

Their petition had sought a review by the full 12 members of the 11th
Circuit after a three-judge panel at the court ruled June 1 that Elian does
not have the right to independently apply for political asylum.

To win such a review, known as an "en banc" hearing, it is necessary for
seven of the 12 judges to vote for the rehearing. Instead, the judges
unanimously voted against it.

Turning to the full 11th Circuit does not take away the Miami family's right
to appeal to the Supreme Court. The family has said repeatedly it is
prepared to take Elian's case to the nation's highest court.

Four of the nine Supreme Court justices must agree to hear an appeal. A
single justice can grant a stay, or can opt to refer the question of a stay
to the full court. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy is the justice assigned to
hear emergency matters from the 11th circuit.

Legal experts have said the court is unlikely to take the case because the
asylum law is clear and two courts -- the 11th Circuit and a Miami federal
trial court -- have ruled that the only the father can speak on the boy's
behalf on immigration matters. The high court normally takes cases only if
there is a dispute in lower court rulings or if the matter at hand is of
overwhelming political significance.

CNN legal analyst Greta Van Sustern predicted the Supreme Court would not
hear the case.

"That hope is dim, based on the fact that the language (in the appeals court
decision) is strong, and the decision is unanimous," she said.

Miami police don't expect violence
The boy is with his father and his stepmother and stepbrother in Washington.
Juan Miguel Gonzalez got custody of his son on April 22, after federal
agents raided the relatives' home in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood and
seized the boy.

Juan Miguel Gonzalez came to the United States on April 11 to fetch Elian.
The tourism worker has been steadfast in his desire to return to communist
Cuba.

Seizure of the boy set off violent protests in Miami's Cuban community. But
there were only peaceful protests after the appeals court ruling last month.
Miami police expect the same reaction to this latest ruling.

"The chief is optimistic things will be calm because they were the last
time," said Miami Police Department spokesman Bill Schwartz. "We don't
anticipate any problems."

Ramon Saul Sanchez, the leader of the Democracy Movement, an anti-Fidel
Castro group based in Miami, said the decision made him "greatly
disappointed in the court system."

"This is a sad day today, not only for Elian, but for other Elians in the
future," Sanchez said.

He said he is planning a flotilla for July 14 that will go from Key West
into international waters, to remind everyone of the plight of Cuban
dissidents.

Sanchez said the court's decision is a victory for Cuba's president. Elian,
he said, "will be a trophy for the Cuban government, exhibited everywhere,
and Castro will claim victory over imperialism and the Miami mafia."

In Cuba, the court's decision was reported Friday in a live broadcast.

Latest arguments
The Miami family had argued that the INS fell "woefully short" of ensuring
that Elian was given due process rights. They also said the three-judge
panel did not have to defer to the INS' authority in the matter.

Before deciding whether or not to accept the case, the full 11th Circuit
took the unusual step of asking for a response from the government and Juan
Miguel Gonzalez, setting a Tuesday deadline.

In the response, Juan Miguel Gonzalez said the three-judge panel used
"common sense" in ruling that he had the sole right to file for Elian's
asylum, a matter that had become embroiled in an "uncommon dispute."

Justice Department lawyers also urged the court to deny the Miami relatives
a hearing.

Elian saga background
Lazaro Gonzalez and the other relatives began taking care of Elian on
November 25, when the boy was found clinging to an inner tube off the coast
of Florida and taken to Miami.

Elian and his mother were among a group of Cubans attempting to flee Cuba in
a boat. The boat capsized. Elian was one of three who survived, but 11
others drowned, including Elian's mother. The INS gave the Miami relatives
temporary custody of the child while it decided whether he has a right to
remain in this country.

Juan Miguel Gonzalez demanded his boy back, saying he was kidnapped from
Cuba. The Miami relatives said the boy must remain in the U.S. because that
is what his mother wanted for her son.

The relatives filed political asylum applications on the boy's behalf. The
INS rejected asylum, saying because the boy has an involved parent -- Juan
Miguel Gonzalez in this case -- only the father could file such an
application.

The matter became a political battle, with the Clinton administration on one
side and the Cuban-Americans on the other. Saying repeated attempts to
reunite the boy with his father had failed, Attorney General Janet Reno
authorized the controversial April 22 raid.

A Miami judge ruled in the government's favor in March, when the boy was
living with Lazaro Gonzalez. By the time the three-judge panel in the
Atlanta appeals court issued its ruling, Elian was with his father.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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