Profs: Law clear that Elian must go
By MARIBEL MOREY
News Writer
Since he was found floating in an inner tube off the Florida coast on Thanksgiving Day, controversy over Elian Gonzalez's fate has continued to rage.
"The law is pretty clear … he needs to return to Cuba," said Barbara Szweda, professor of immigration law at Notre Dame.
Although many refugees do receive political asylum because they fear returning to an oppressive culture, the fact remains that Elian needs to prove his case just as any other immigrant would, Szweda explained. In the past, the U.S. has offered immunity to persons persecuted in their home country because of religion, ethnicity, nationality, membership in social groups or political opinion, but no one is ever guaranteed admittance into the country.
Because of the recent well publicized mobilization of both Cuban nationalists and Cuban Americans, Elian's case has developed into a much deeper controversy.
"He ought to be sent back to his parents," said Benjamin Radcliff, professor of government at Notre Dame. "That is the obvious course that will follow. [This] INS issue has been caught up in the political, as the Cuban population in Miami is trying to use Elian as their own public relations tool."
"The battle right now is politics versus the law," Szweda said. Elian's relatives in Miami are currently attempting to tie up the courts in order to stall the INS immigration process. Legally, however, Elian's future resides in the hands of his father, his rightful guardian, Szweda said.
Anthony Messina, Notre Dame professor of government, concurred.
"The law is on the side of the father," he said. "It's pretty straightforward that there is little legal founding on the decision to keep him in the U.S."
Elian has been in the U.S. for two months, and concerns are beginning to surface that some type of decision needs to be made quickly.
"The longer he is here, the more difficult it will be to leave the world of Disney," Messina said.
All News Stories for Thursday, January 27, 2000
