O'Laughlin plans to lobby politicians to grant Elian citizenship

February 1, 2000
Web posted at: 10:48 p.m. EST (0348 GMT)

In this story: Lawmakers back off fast track for citizenship Attorneys, citizenship proponent plan strategy Relatives challenge denied bid for asylum Nun, some lawmakers disagree over jurisdiction RELATED STORIES, SITES

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A Dominican nun who has taken up the cause of Elian Gonzalez is set to return to Washington on Wednesday to continue her effort to have him made a U.S. citizen so he can remain in the United States.

Sister Jeanne O'Laughlin, president of Barry University in Miami Shores, Florida, is heading back to Washington for the second time in two weeks to lobby politicians to grant the 6-year-old Cuban boy citizenship.

Before Congress reconvened last month, sponsors of the citizenship proposal were hoping to get quick action on the bill.

Lawmakers back off fast track for citizenship

However, after the boys grandmothers' Miami visit with their grandson last week, Republican leaders in the House and Senate announced the bill would not be put on a fast track, and it was sent to respective congressional committees for consideration.

Last Thursday, one day after O'Laughlin hosted a meeting between the youngster and his two Cuban grandmothers, she traveled to Washington and met with Florida's two U.S. senators, Republican Connie Mack and Democrat Bob Graham, who support citizenship.

O'Laughlin also met with Attorney General Janet Reno and Immigration and Naturalization Service Commissioner Doris Meissner, but she failed to sway them from their decision that Elian and his father should be reunited in Cuba.

Attorneys, citizenship proponent plan strategy

Attorneys representing the boy's Miami relatives, with whom he is staying, briefed congressional staff members Tuesday on their strategy for keeping him in the United States.

The three lawyers, Joe Begosian, Eduardo Rasco and Roger Bernstein, met with House staff members in an hourlong session organized by Rep. Iliana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Florida, a leading proponent of a bill to grant American citizenship to Elian.

"I think there's a lot of misinformation about the Elian Gonzalez case, and it's important for the members to have a legal viewpoint of what the status of the case is," Ros-Lehtinen said.

The Miami congresswoman portrayed the fate of the boy as a custody battle -- not what she described as a "very legalistic" administrative procedure by U.S. immigration officials, who have ruled the boy should be reunited with his father in Cuba.

Attorneys representing Elian's Miami relatives briefed congressional staff members Tuesday

Relatives challenge denied bid for asylum

Elian's Miami relatives are challenging a ruling that denied the bid for asylum that they had filed for Elian. The relatives believe his mother's ill-fated trip from Cuba to the United States was a bid to flee political persecution by the communist government of Fidel Castro.

The November voyage ended in tragedy when the small boat with 14 people on board capsized off the Florida coast. Elian and two other people were the only survivors. His mother was among those who drowned.

A Miami federal judge has scheduled a February 22 hearing to determine whether U.S. District Court has jurisdiction in the case.

Nun, some lawmakers disagree over jurisdiction

O'Laughlin has suggested Elian should remain in the United States, fearing further trauma if he were to be broken from a bond O'Laughlin believes he has formed with his cousin, Maryslesis Gonzalez.

Lawmakers who say the father has the only legitimate claim on the boy, including Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Connecticut, expressed skepticism about O'Laughlin's view, saying it would be impossible to draw such a conclusion from the brief time she has been involved with the youngster's family.

Aides to lawmakers pushing the citizenship bill say O'Laughlin will meet with several U.S. senators between 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. One staff aide said she will spend next week lobbying members of the House.