Jackson-Lee, center, with Elian's granmothers, Quintana, left, and Rodriquez, says she sees no reason to give Elian citizenship that would only delay his return to the family in Cuba 341K/30 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

January 25, 2000
Web posted at: 7:09 p.m. EST (0009 GMT)

In this story: Family portrait, without Elian Clinton: Let court handle it Miami relatives blamed for failed reunion 'This is a family issue' RELATED STORIES, SITES

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Under government orders, the Florida relatives of Elian Gonzalez agreed Tuesday to make the boy available for a meeting with his Cuban grandmothers Wednesday at a neutral site, the Justice Department said. The grandmothers pressed their insistence for the boy's return and pleaded with Congress not to force U.S. citizenship upon him.

The meeting is set for Wednesday afternoon at the Miami Beach home of Sister Jeanne O'Laughlin, president of Barry University, a Roman Catholic college in Miami.

Earlier Tuesday, the head of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service had ordered Elian's Miami relatives to make the 6-year-old Cuban boy available for a reunion with his grandmothers "in a neutral setting."

BACKGROUND National Council of Churches     MESSAGE BOARD US/Cuba relations     ALSO Elian not only Cuban child at center of custody battle Text of INS letter

Tuesday's announcement came as members of Congress take sides in the custody case and Elian's grandmothers tearfully pleaded to lawmakers for the boy's return to Cuba.

INS Commissioner Doris Meissner ordered the meeting in a letter to lawyers representing Lazaro Gonzalez, the boy's great-uncle and temporary legal guardian.

The grandmothers had written a letter to Meissner asking that she order "a meeting in a neutral setting" if they could not arrange for it on their own, according to INS spokeswoman Maria Cardona.

At the White House, President Clinton said he was saddened that Elian is being "competed for." He left open the possibility he would veto any Congressional bill granting U.S. citizenship to the young shipwreck survivor.

"I have not decided what to do and I would not rule that out," Clinton told reporters.

The grandmothers' first stop was at the office of Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Texas, who said she hoped the House would not take up legislation granting citizenship or permanent residency to Elian.

"He belongs in Cuba," Mariela Quintana, the paternal grandmother, told reporters after meeting with Jackson-Lee, "He was born in Cuba and he's a Cuban citizen."

Raquel Rodriquez, Elian's maternal grandmother, fighting back tears, said she hoped "to stop the possibility of granting citizenship to the child, for it would be more painful" to his Cuban family.

The grandmothers said they still hoped to be able to take Elian back with them when they return to Cuba, even though their first attempt to meet him -- on Monday in Miami -- was not successful.

They denied Elian would have a better life if he stayed in the United States. "That's not true," Rodriquez said, noting that the boy's family had several homes in Cuba, where there is access to free schooling and health care.

Flanked by the two women, Jackson-Lee displayed a picture in a photo album brought by the grandmothers to show the boy comes from a loving family.

"This is the picture of the family without Elian -- grandmothers, grandfathers, new baby brother, father -- all of them waiting for Elian," the congresswoman said. Jackson-Lee said the photo album would be shown to other members of Congress.

Jackson-Lee shows a picture of Elian's family in Cuba (Click for larger image of picture)

"I would like to see this court case played out before the Congress takes action," Clinton said. "I think we ought to try to let the legal system take its course."

He urged lawmakers and others involved to think first about "what is right for the child."

"Plainly, he would have more economic opportunity in this country," Clinton said, "but all the evidence indicates that his father genuinely loved him and spent a great deal of time with him back in Cuba."

Behind the scenes, efforts continued to arrange a meeting that would allow the grandmothers to see the 6-year-old Cuban boy, who is now in the care of Miami relatives fighting to keep him in the United States.

"The (U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service) is continuing to work on arranging a private meeting for the grandmothers to meet with Elian," said the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, former general secretary of the National Council of Churches.

The New York-based religious group, which has been acting as an intermediary in the international dispute, brought the grandmothers to the United States last week to urge that the motherless boy be sent back to Cuba to live with his father.

The two women flew to Washington on Monday night by private jet after their attempt to visit the boy in Miami failed.

The grandmothers turned down an invitation to have dinner Monday night at the home of Elian's relatives in Miami, who insisted the meeting take place at the home where the boy has been staying since late November.

The grandmothers wanted to meet privately with Elian at a neutral site.

Brown, speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill Tuesday, blamed the Miami relatives for the failure of the attempted reunion.

"The family in Miami knew very well that what had been requested was a private meeting in a secure and secluded place ... where they could see their grandson whom they have not seen for 63 days," she said.

In addition to meeting with Jackson-Lee, Elian's grandmothers are seeing other sympathetic lawmakers in Washington Tuesday to press their case that the boy should be returned to his homeland in accordance with an INS ruling.

His Miami relatives, who are fiercely opposed to Cuba's Communist president, Fidel Castro, are appealing that ruling in federal court.

Some of them had hoped to fly to Washington Tuesday to do their own lobbying in support of legislation that would grant Elian U.S. citizenship or residency. That trip appeared in doubt because of heavy snowfall in Washington.

"My concern is the trauma that is occurring with young Elian," Jackson-Lee said prior to her meeting with the grandmothers.

"None of us know what it is to have lost a mother, to have been adrift at sea, to be away from grandparents who obviously love him, as well as (his) father," said the Texas Democrat.

"This is not a Fidel Castro/United States issue," she said. "This is a family issue and we have taken it away from where it should be."

Elian has been staying with distant relatives in Miami since November 25, when he was rescued off Florida after surviving the capsizing of a boat carrying illegal Cuban migrants.

His mother was among the 11 Cubans who drowned; Elian was one of three survivors.

Correspondent Bob Franken contributed to this report.

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