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INS talks tough on Elian; will it follow through?

March 28, 2000
Web posted at: 9:58 AM EST (1458 GMT)

By Tony Karon

(TIME.com) -- The Elian Gonzalez case may be shaping up as a knock-down, drag-out fight in the courtrooms, but political concerns may put a brake on the U.S. government's ability to actually implement its decision.

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INS officials have moved in recent days to reassert their authority in the case, ordering lawyers for the boy's Miami relatives to a Tuesday meeting to be read the riot act, following their failure to respond to a government demand that they provide a written commitment to hand the boy over for repatriation to Cuba if they lose their appeal.

The Miami relatives are contesting a federal judge's ruling upholding the INS position that Elian should be returned to his father. The INS has threatened that failure to provide the commitment will result in the revoking on Thursday of Elian's parole status and the temporary custody of a great-uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez, which would open the way for his immediate repatriation -- and a showdown with the Cuban exile activists currently surrounding Lazaro's home to prevent Elian's removal. Thus far, the government has shown little stomach for such a confrontation.

Despite the legal hardball and the expedited appeal process that may bring a ruling within a week, the matter may yet be far from closed. "The government throughout this case been as cautious as possible about how they proceed with moves to send Elian home, and that has created many openings for the Miami relatives and their supporters to delay the process," says TIME Miami bureau chief Tim Padgett. "If they lose in the courts, the Miami family may again try to appeal to Congress to come up with some device, such as granting Elian citizenship or issuing a congressional subpoena, although if they've lost in court, Congress may be much less enthusiastic about supporting them. Still, there'll be no surprise if the Miami relatives manage to drag this thing out a lot longer -- you can't ignore the fact that Al Gore really needs Florida if he's going to beat George W. Bush."

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