Grandmothers Lobby Feinstein and Waters

The grandmothers of Elian Gonzalez on Friday called on two California Democrats, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Maxine Waters of Los Angeles, as they concluded a week of intense and emotional lobbying to return the 6-year-old boy to his father in Cuba.

So far, their campaign is bearing fruit on Capitol Hill. Legislation to declare Elian a U.S. citizen appears stalled, if not dead. Numerous lawmakers from both parties in recent days have declared their opposition. Proponents, thrown on the defensive, have declined to specify when their bills would come to a vote.

“The American public supports Elian’s return. That’s undeniable,” Waters declared after a meeting with the grandmothers, Mariela Quintana and Raquel Rodriguez.

“We don’t care about politics. We care about our grandson,” said Quintana, who wiped a tear from her cheek during a brief encounter with reporters. “We want to have our grandson back with us in Cuba.”

Waters and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) met Monday with Elian’s father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, in Cuba.

The grandmothers--and family members and emissaries from Miami who want the boy to remain in the United States--have become a roving spectacle in Washington as they press their case before anyone in Congress willing to listen. In addition to Waters and Lee, California lawmakers who support the Cuban grandmothers include Feinstein, Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. George Miller of Martinez, all Democrats.

Increasingly, members of the House and the Senate seem reluctant to turn their chambers into venues for a child custody battle. But members and aides cautioned that unforeseen developments could yet move Congress to act.

Also Friday, Sister Jeanne O’Laughlin, a Florida nun who, at the request of Atty. Gen. Janet Reno, hosted the reunion of Elian with his grandmothers this week, told Reno that the administration should reverse its policy. O’Laughlin, who was asked to host the meeting as a neutral party, now supports legislation to make Elian a U.S. citizen.

After meeting with O’Laughlin, Reno said in a statement that she herself continues to support a ruling by the Immigration and Naturalization Service that the boy be returned to his father.

Elian has drawn international attention since he was discovered Nov. 25 floating in an inner tube off the Florida coast. His mother had taken him on a voyage to flee the Communist regime of President Fidel Castro. She and 10 others drowned in the attempt.

Since then, Elian has been living with members of his extended family in Miami who are staunchly anti-Castro. Federal immigration officials have ruled that the boy should be returned to Cuba, but his fate now awaits decisions in state and federal courts. Legislation to make Elian a U.S. citizen would, if enacted, render questions about his immigration status moot.

But such legislation is rare and could have diplomatic repercussions.

The State Department said Friday that, if Elian remains in the United States, the case would undermine U.S. efforts to persuade foreign governments to return American children detained in foreign countries. Senior State Department officials told reporters that about 1,100 American children are being held abroad, mostly in custody cases.

“Elian should be returned,” an official said. “We would expect no less of a foreign government if the roles were reversed.”

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Times staff writer Norman Kempster contributed to this report.