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Attorneys on both sides dispute Elian's 'next friend'

May 16, 2000
Web posted at: 1:06 PM EDT (1706 GMT)

CASE FILE: • Boy in the Middle

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ATLANTA (CNN) -- Attorneys for Lazaro Gonzalez contended Tuesday he should remain Elian Gonzalez' "next friend" in court matters because substituting his father would kill an appeal by the boy's Miami relatives.

But the federal government said Lazaro Gonzalez no longer has custody of Elian, that the boy's father is in the United States, and U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service has determined the father should speak for his son.

Juan Miguel Gonzalez filed a motion April 26 with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals asking to intervene in his son's appeal and to be named as the relative who speaks for the boy rather than his great-uncle.

The appeals court gave the Miami relatives and the federal government until Tuesday to reply to that filing.

A U.S. district court in Miami has ruled the INS has the authority to return Elian to his father. The Miami relatives are challenging that ruling, arguing that the INS must give Elian an asylum hearing.

Attorneys for Lazaro Gonzalez contend Juan Gonzalez cannot speak for his son because under Cuban law, no parent has that right.

"While the Intervenor urges a premise of parent knows best under Castro's regime, Castro and only Castro is allowed to determine what is best for Cubans and their families," the attorneys argue.

Further, they contend that under U.S. immigration law, a parent's authority does not wipe out a child's asylum claim.

A 6-year-old can make such a claim, they contend, and because they say Elian wishes to stay in the United States, there is a conflict between what he wants and what his father wishes. Juan Gonzalez has repeatedly said he does not want an asylum claim filed for his son and wants to return to Cuba.

Finally, the attorneys for Lazaro Gonzalez contend their client should remain Elian's "next friend" because his father simply filed too late to replace him.

In supporting Juan Miguel Gonzalez' claim to intervene and be named the one who speaks for his son, the government says Lazaro Gonzalez no longer has the status to act in that capacity.

The status of "next friend," says the government, was based on the fact that Juan Miguel Gonzalez was not in the United States and Lazaro Gonzalez was providing Elian's care.

"Because Juan has now come to the United States, received Elian back into his care, intervened in this case, and accepted the district court's invitation to challenge Lazaro's continued participation as next friend, Juan's motion to be substituted for Lazaro as Elian's next friend in this case should be granted," the government argued.

As it did in oral arguments, the government said under the INS' ruling in Elian's case, "Lazaro has no legal basis to act on behalf of Elian in immigration matters without Juan's consent."

Further, the government says there is no conflict between Elian and his father because a 6-year-old child may not make "life-altering decisions" about his fate.

Elian was rescued Nov. 25 while floating in the Atlantic. Since that time he had been the center of a tug of war between his father who wants him back in Cuba and his Miami relatives who want Elian to remain in the United States.

After the appeals court rules on Elian's case, then what?
May 11, 2000
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May 10, 2000
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Elian's Dad: Hearing would violate rights
May 1, 2000

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