Court asked to reject asylum claims filed on Elian's behalf
By George Gedda, Associated Press, 05/02/00
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Juan Miguel Gonzalez wants a federal appeals court to reject the political asylum claims filed on behalf of his son, Elian, by the boy's Miami relatives.
A motion on the father's behalf was filed Monday with the 11th U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta by his lawyer, Gregory Craig.
A brief accompanying the motion argues that the father believes Elian "craves the familiarity of his own bedroom" in Cuba.
The brief asked the appeals court to uphold a March 21 ruling by a U.S. District judge in Miami that the court has no right to second guess the government on matters of asylum. The appeals court has scheduled a hearing for May 11.
The March ruling was appealed to the Atlanta court by Elain's Miami relatives. The Cuban boy stayed with them for almost five months after his rescue at sea last November. He was forcibly seized from the relatives by federal agents on April 22 and reunited with his father. They are now staying at a private home at a secluded area on Maryland's Eastern Shore, awaiting completion of the legal process.
Craig argued in the brief that when "Juan Miguel speaks for his son, he does so without conflict and without coercion.
"To prolong this case by requiring an asylum hearing, where the Immigration and Naturalization Service has already found there is no objective evidence to support a finding that Elian will suffer persecution on his return to Cuba, would result in a substantial interference with Juan Miguel's basic right to raise his child and would cause great damage to his family."
The brief also sought to debunk the notion that the elder Gonzalez has not been free to speak his mind since his arrival on U.S. soil on April 7.
Since that day, "Juan Miguel has been free to state his views honestly and openly, without coercion, without fear of retribution," the motion said.
If he had wanted to defect from Cuba, there was "no better time" than when he met with Attorney General Janet Reno and Immigration Service Commissioner Doris Meissner on April 8, Craig said. No Cuban diplomats attended the meeting.
The motion also said the father believes that a six-year old boy found adrift in the Atlantic Ocean and now caught up in the American legal system "craves the familiarity of his own bedroom" in Cardenas.
"When Elian gets home to Cardenas, he will be greeted by his friends and family," it said. "He will return to school. He will play in the streets of his hometown. He will make trips to the beach and the resort where his father works. Juan Miguel intends to raise his child as he sees fit and where he sees fit."
The brief also ridiculed the asylum petition filed on Elian's behalf by Lazaro Gonzalez, the boy's great uncle in Miami.
"Elian signed an application for asylum apparently written in English," the brief said. "That this six-year old boy could not have had the slightest understanding of the meaning of that form is self evident, not only from life experience but also from the fact that he does not read Spanish, much less English."
The motion suggested that Elian might have been under duress, "perhaps susceptible, as children are, to subtle pressures and an eagerness to please."
At another point, the motion said that Lazaro Gonzalez's sole contact with Elian occurred in 1998 when the uncle visited Juan Miguel's home in Cardenas, about a two-hour drive east of Havana.
"According to Juan Miguel, Lazaro paid no attention to the boy during that visit," the brief said. "Lazaro slept during the day, went to the resort at Varadero Beach in the evenings and drank during the night."
