Decision expected Thursday in Elian case, sources say

Losers will have more legal options

May 31, 2000
Web posted at: 10:05 p.m. EDT (0205 GMT)

In this story: Some possible ruling scenarios History of Elian's case RELATED STORIES, SITES

(CNN) -- Sources familiar with the Elian Gonzalez case told CNN that a decision by a federal appeals court in Atlanta on whether to grant the 6-year-old Cuban boy an asylum hearing is expected to be announced Thursday.

The sources did not say what the decision would be, only that they had been alerted that a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals would likely issue its ruling, possibly before noon.

	MESSAGE BOARD
U.S./Cuba

The decision is to come more than six months after the young boy was found floating on an inner tube off the Florida coast on Thanksgiving Day, and less than a month after the court heard arguments from attorneys for the boy's father and Elian's Miami relatives.

As the news spread in Miami late Wednesday, a small crowd, some waving the Cuban flag, began gathering outside the Little Havana home where Elian had lived with his Miami relatives before being reunited with his father.

A spokesman for the Miami relatives, Armando Gutierrez, told CNN, "They're just waiting (for the decision). No one really knows what's going to happen. They're just very anxious."

  • If the court rejects the asylum hearing, attorneys for Elian's Miami relatives could ask for reconsideration by the three-judge panel, a review of the matter by the entire 12-judge appeals court or file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court.

If the court orders an asylum hearing, Elian's application would be heard by an Immigration and Naturalization Service asylum officer who would interview the child. Because the boy is a minor, Elian would have to accompanied by a legal spokesman.

  • If that INS officer rejects the asylum claim, technically the father would be free to take his son and return to Cuba. However, it is likely the decision would be challenged by lawyers representing Miami relatives.

  • In addition, if the government loses the case Thursday, it could ask all 12 judges of the appeals court to review the case or appeal directly to the Supreme Court.

Legal experts say the 11th Circuit's decision will hinge on its interpretation of a federal statute that states "any alien" may apply for political asylum. The question is whether Congress, when it established the law, envisioned that a 6-year-old child would seek refuge.

The boy has been under court order not to leave the United States until a ruling is issued on the appeal. Unless the appeals court extends that order, the attorneys for the Miami relatives are expected to ask for an emergency court injunction to keep the boy in the United States.

The appeals court heard arguments May 11 on whether to grant Elian a hearing on political asylum.

Government attorneys have said the boy is not mature enough to make such a decision, and that only his father can speak for Elian; lawyers for the boy's Miami relatives have argued Elian would face persecution in Cuba were he to return.

Elian has been at the center of a custody battle since he was rescued off the Florida coast on November 25 after floating on an inner tube for 50 hours. His mother and 10 others died when their small boat sank as they tried to make it from Cuba to the United States. The boy and two adults survived.

Elian was put in the temporary custody of great-uncle Lazaro Gonzalez in Miami. He quickly became a poster boy on both sides of the Florida Straits: To exiles in Florida, he is a symbolic victim of Cuban President Fidel Castro's revolution; to Castro, he is a pawn of the Miami exile community and U.S. hard-line policy toward the island.

The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service ruled that Elian should be returned to his father, but Lazaro Gonzalez refused to hand the boy over. After months of fruitless negotiations, federal agents took Elian from Lazaro Gonzalez's home in a pre-dawn raid on April 22, returning him to his father.

Elian, his father, stepmother, infant half-brother, a cousin and some of his Cuban classmates spent weeks at Carmichael Farm at Maryland's Wye River Plantation, where they were guarded by U.S. marshals. The family recently moved to another temporary home in Washington.

The Justice Department's latest figures on costs associated with the Elian case show the total as of May 21 to be $1.345 million.

More than half of that sum was spent on travel, overtime and other security costs associated with Marshals Service protective functions.

Correspondent Susan Candiotti contributed to this report.

Elian case dominates Cuban-American radio in Miami
May 11, 2000
Battle over Elian to resume in Atlanta court
May 10, 2000
TIME.com: Elian's day in court: The players and their plans
May 9, 2000
Lawyer asks halt to Cuban officials' visits to Elian Gonzalez
May 4, 2000

U.S. Attorney General
U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
U.S. Department of Justice

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.