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Elian's Miami relatives appeal asylum ruling

Elian at the National Zoo in Washington D.C.

June 14, 2000
Web posted at: 7:28 p.m. EDT (2328 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Elian Gonzalez's Miami relatives on late Wednesday appealed a June 1 decision by a three-judge panel at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that said the 6-year-old Cuban boy does not have the right to independently seek political asylum.

The appeal, which contends federal immigration officials did not have the discretion to deny the Cuban boy a political asylum hearing, was filed the day before a deadline set by the judges who issued the June 1 ruling. Wednesday's appeal seeks another review by the same court.

Now it is up to the court to decide if it will rehear the case. If the court accepts the case, it must consider whether the original three judges must rehear the case or all 12 judges must do so. If the full complement of judges decides to hear the case, they will grant what is called an "en banc" hearing.

The Miami relatives' appeal to the 11th Circuit does not take away their right to file further appeals with the U.S. Supreme Court. The family's lawyers have said repeatedly that they will take it to the nation's highest court.

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The lawyers and relatives have scheduled a 6 a.m. EDT news conference at a Miami restaurant Thursday morning.

Legal experts have said that unless the Miami relatives get another temporary injunction barring the boy's removal from the United States, Juan Miguel Gonzalez will be free to return to Cuba with his son by the end of this month. They have also predicted that the Supreme Court will not take the case because there is no disagreement at the lower court level over the point of the law.

"The law is crystal clear here. The Supreme Court is not going to really be happy about having to get involved in this case simply to put Cuba on trial," said Washington immigration attorney Jose Pertierra, himself of Cuban descent. "In other words, they are not going to be used politically here; they are smarter than that."

In March, a Miami federal court ruled that immigration statutes specify that the attorney general has the right to decide who can file a political asylum application on the boy's behalf.

Attorney General Janet Reno has said the boy's father has the sole authority to speak for the boy on immigration matters. Juan Miguel,a tourism worker, wants to take Elian back to Cuba. He came to the United States in April to take custody of his son and return to the communist island.

The Miami relatives appealed the Miami court's decision to the 11th Circuit, which has jurisdiction over Florida. The three-judge panel issued a temporary injunction in April ordering the boy to remain in the United States while the court considers the appeal.

On June 1, the court handed the Miami relatives another defeat, denying a political asylum hearing for Elian. The court ruled that the Immigration and Naturalization Service did not "abuse its discretion or act arbitrarily" in rejecting the asylum application filed by the Miami relatives on Elian's behalf.

The Miami relatives, who cared for the boy for five months after he came to the United States on November 25, have said the boy must remain in the United States because he cannot live in freedom if he is returned to Cuba.

They have also said it was Elian's mother's wish that her son remain in the U.S.; Elian's mother drowned when the boat in which she and Elian fled Cuba capsized. A pair of Florida fishermen found Elian clinging to an inner tube. The U.S. Coast Guard brought the boy to Miami.

Juan Miguel has said that he never authorized the boy's flight, calling his ex-wife's dash to the United States a "kidnapping." He has been steadfast in his desire to be reunited with his son and to take him back to Cuba, a decision lauded by Cuban leader Fidel Castro and the Cuban people. U.S. officials have also said Juan Miguel is a loving, devoted father.

On April 22, after repeated rounds of negotiations between the government and the Miami relatives failed over the boy's return to his father, Reno authorized government agents to forcibly remove Elian from the relatives' home.

Juan Miguel, Elian, and Elian's stepmother and stepbrother are now living temporarily in Washington.

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U.S. Attorney General
U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
Public Affairs
Executive Office of the Governor of Florida
Eleventh Circuit Published Opinions
United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
LibertyForElian.org - Foundation to Help Save Elian
Granma Internacional Digital, Cuba
 -Kidnap in Miami
Cubaweb
Cuban American National Foundation

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