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Saturday Morning News

Immigration Law is at Center of Elian Gonzalez Case

Aired January 8, 2000 - 9:08 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: As the debate grows and entwines around Elian Gonzalez, it is easy to lose sight of the heart of the story. Elian is just 6 years old, so here's a snapshot.

CNN's Brian Cabell spent the day with a 6-year-old neighbor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Six-year-old Pedro Riveron (ph) lives right up the block from Elian Gonzalez in Miami, and in many ways he's living the life that Elian would live if the Cuban boy was allowed to say in the U.S.

PEDRO RIVERON: I like to play with my friends.

CABELL: And he'd like to have Elian as a friend. Pedro says they could visit the corner store up the street to buy candy or those sweet Cuban pastries. They could trade Pokemon cards, another of Pedro's passions.

PEDRO'S FATHER: He like karate, he like boxing.

CABELL: Pedro's an active boy, his dad says, and conscientious.

PEDRO'S FATHER: Yes, he loves to -- he do all his homework. The first thing he do when he get home is do his homework.

CABELL: Elian himself has already attended school for a few days at a Catholic institution, where he was treated as a hero by his classmates. In Elian's neighborhood, homes cost about $100,000. Burglar bars on the windows are common, although residents say the troublemakers come from outside the neighborhood. But there are plenty of children for Elian to play with.

MANNY RODRIGUEZ, NEIGHBOR: Oh, they play, they come in here with the bicycles, they play all around, they ride bicycle all around here and to the block. It's no problem. Everybody watch them, you know.

CABELL: It's a tight-knit Hispanic community, neighbors say, where Elian could fit in very nicely if the reporters, cameramen, and satellite trucks would ever leave.

But in the meantime, he'll drive his little car around and play with his doting relatives while they all wait to see whether Elian will stay here in his new neighborhood in Miami or return to Cuba.

Brian Cabell, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Elian's case has been taken up by the courts and by Congress, but immigration law is at the heart of the matter. Most of us don't know much about it, though, but Dale Schwartz knows. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the INS says about Elian must return to Cuba. The Emory professor is a former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Thanks for coming up with us this morning.

DALE SCHWARTZ, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY: Good morning.

PHILLIPS: All right. Why don't we begin with testifying before Congress? What do you think they will ask Elian? What is it they want to hear from him?

SCHWARTZ: Well, Elian is really too young to almost ask him anything. That's why I've been saying ever since Elian came to the United States that a court ought to appoint some legal guardian to speak for him. His father has been determined by the Immigration Service, and I think rightfully so, to be his guardian.

However -- and he's not an unfit father, according to them. So the administration has done and made the only ruling that they could under the circumstances. But the father won't come to the United States to assert those rights, so it would not be unusual for a court to appoint a guardian at lidem (ph) or for somebody to be his guardian in these litigation proceedings.

And that person would assert whatever claims they want to make for Elian, such as a right to political asylum or his desire to stay in the United States.

PHILLIPS: So could a Miami judge step in and say, We're going to take the father's custody rights and let him stay here and turn him over to the great-uncle?

SCHWARTZ: I think a judge could do that. I would not predict that it would likely that a judge would do that. But what is more likely is that a judge would appoint a guardian just to represent Elian's rights in these proceedings.

It is not likely that the Immigration Service would attempt to deport Elian in view of the fact that he's been issued a subpoena to come before Congress. So I think that will stall things for a while.

What's really interesting is that we have a law that's been on the books for many, many years called the Cuban Adjustment Act that allows any Cuban citizen who comes to the United States who's been admitted to the United States or paroled, as Elian has been, I presume, to apply for permanent residence in this country, the so- called Green Card, after they've been here for one year. If these proceedings stall out beyond a year, somebody could assert Elian's right to apply for permanent residence here. And I suspect that's what's happening.

PHILLIPS: Now, in regard to the legal aspect, I mean, the father has proven to be a fit father, that he's got a good relationship with his son. So what's wrong with him going back?

SCHWARTZ: The administration has said there's nothing wrong with that, and they want to send Elian back, although he's never been through a deportation hearing, he's never had an opportunity to assert his right to political asylum. The father has probably not been a bad father. The question is, what is best for Elian?

At the end of the day, that is the question that everybody needs to ask themselves, what is the best thing for this child?

PHILLIPS: Now, how is it, through your experience, how does something like this affect a 6-year-old child?

SCHWARTZ: Well, that's hard to say. It's hard to understand what Elian really does know or understand about his own circumstances now. I mean, the poor child has lost his mother. He was there when that happened. That had to be a traumatic thing for him. But he does have a lot of love and a lot of affection from his relatives in Miami. He seems to be happy right now.

And I think it's going to be a long time before this whole matter is sorted out.

PHILLIPS: Dale Schwartz, thank you very much for joining us.

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