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ELIAN GONZALEZ NABBED FROM MIAMI HOME
Just before this newsletter was set for release, the INS conducted a swift raid on the home of Lazaro Gonzalez and seized Elian Gonzalez at gunpoint. The child was quickly flown to Washington and reunited with his father. Negotiations with the boy’s family were said to be close to conclusion and it is not clear why Attorney General Janet Reno chose to conduct such a dangerous raid rather than waiting a few more hours. 
The raid took place in less than three minutes and involved eight agents, armed with automatic weapons and wearing body armor. Officers knocked the door of the house in with a battering ram. The child was found hiding with Donate Dalyrmple, the fisherman who rescued the six year old boy from the high seas. He was removed from the house by a female agent who spoke to the boy in Spanish. The Child was driven to nearby Watson Island and then flown by helicopter to Homestead Air Force Base south of the city. The child was then flown in a US Marshal’s plane to meet his father at Andrews Air Force Base outside the nation’s Capitol. 
There has been a considerable amount of controversy as well surrounding a photograph taken by an Associated Press journalist who was in the house at the time of the raid. The photo shows an INS agent holding a high power rifle pointing toward a tearful child and Mr. Dalrymple. The photo has been broadcast around the world and will no doubt be one that will cause defenders of the raid to wince. The photograph can be seen at http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/p/nm/20000422/ts/mdf70052.html and we are linking it in the web version of this article.
Source: Reuters 
President Clinton spoke briefly to the media and made it clear he supported his Attorney General and INS Commissioner. Republicans were quick to condemn the raid. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott compared the raid to something expected in Castro’s Cuba, not in America. 
Presidential candidate George W. Bush said he was “profoundly saddened and troubled” that Reno could not reach a peaceful resolution and instead “decided to use force to take a little boy from the place he calls home in the middle of the night. The chilling picture of a little boy being removed from his home at gunpoint defies the values of America and is not an image a freedom-loving nation wants to show the world.” 
In the mean time, efforts to resolve the child’s status through the legislative process may be getting new life in the wake of the Miami raid. Congressman J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) indicated he would ask House Republican leaders to immediately take up a bill to make Elian a permanent resident. 
Miami Mayor Joe Carollo was outraged by the raid and criticized President Clinton for timing the raid on the Easter weekend. He went so far as to call the people who conducted the raid “atheists.” 
White House spokesman Joe Lockhart in turn criticized Republicans for trying to politicize the situation. 
While the people of Miami appeared calm when they woke up to the news this morning, as the day has progressed, the situation on the streets of one of America’s largest cities is becoming unstable. Fires have been set throughout the Little Havana area and police have been using tear gas to control disturbances. 
This week in the Elian Gonzalez saga began with the announcement from a pediatrician advising the federal government on the case that Elian should be removed from the home of his great uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez.  According to Dr. Irwin Redlener, “Elian Gonzalez is now in a state of imminent danger to his physical and emotional well-being in a home that I consider to be psychologically abusive.”  While this was the first criticism from the government of Elian’s situation, many believe the allegations are unfounded.  Dr. Redlener has not interviewed Elian, nor have any of the other government experts working on the case. 
There have also been reports that Dr. Redlener is a close ally of President Clinton and some critics claim that he would say whatever was requested by the Clinton Administration. Dr. Redlener, who is not a mental health professional, was the chairman of the National Health Leadership Council set up by the Clinton-Gore campaign in 1992. For several months in 1994, Redlener served on Hilary Clinton’s White House Task Force on Health Care Reform. Critics of the President also note that Juan Gonzalez’ lawyer, Gregory Craig, was President Clinton’s impeachment lawyer. 
Later in the week, the Eleventh Circuit issued a decision ordering that Elian Gonzalez not be removed from the US until the court proceedings in his case have been completed.  The case can be found on the web at http://www.herald.com/content/archive/news/rafters99/decision0419/pg01.htm. While this case did not address the merits of the asylum application filed on Elian’s behalf, the nature of injunctive proceedings required some discussion of the merits.  
The court seemed to find persuasive the argument that the asylum statute allowing “any alien” to seek asylum might prevent the INS from rejecting the asylum application filed for Elian without a hearing on the merits.  The court supported this position because of the lack of any laws or regulations restricting the age at which a person may make an asylum application.  Because it was not clear to the court that Elian cannot seek asylum, and because the case could possibly become moot were he to depart from the US, the court ordered that Elian cannot be removed from the US while the appeal is pending. 
The court specifically noted that it declined to say in whose custody Elian should stay while the appeal is pursued.  President Clinton spoke of the opinion as creating no impediment to the reunion of Elian with his father, and according to a Justice Department spokesperson, Attorney General Janet Reno was prepared to use law enforcement if necessary to ensure this reunion.  
So where does the case go from her?. On May 11th, the 11th Circuit Court will decide on whether the child can proceed with an asylum claim. If the court rules that the asylum claim can proceed, then the Justice Department could very well proceed to appeal the case up to the Supreme Court. At that point, if the final decision is that an asylum case can proceed, then the INS will be charged with making a decision on the case. An appeals process could follow and it is quite possible that Elian Gonzalez could be hear for many months, possibly years.