Lawyers Press Cuban Boy’s Right to Apply for Asylum

Attorneys representing the Miami relatives of Elian Gonzalez insisted in federal court Thursday that the 6-year-old has the right to apply for political asylum even though U.S. immigration officials have ruled that he should be returned to his father in Cuba.

“The future of a child who has suffered extraordinary trauma is at issue,” said Kendall Coffey, a former U.S. attorney here and one of several lawyers representing Elian’s great-uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez, who wants to keep the boy in the U.S. “It would not be so drastic to allow him a hearing. But to summarily subject him to being torn away from the loved ones caring for him now [would be].”

Following three hours of legal wrangling, U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore recessed the case without ruling on the government’s motion to dismiss Lazaro Gonzalez’s lawsuit seeking to block the child’s repatriation.

Before ruling on Elian’s right to an asylum hearing, Moore must first decide if the federal court has jurisdiction to hear the case and then whether Lazaro Gonzalez has standing to sue the government on behalf of Elian.

In Washington, meanwhile, a well-connected lawyer who represented President Clinton during his impeachment trial announced that he now represents Elian’s father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez.

In a statement, Gregory B. Craig said: “We have met with Mr. Gonzalez alone and privately in Cuba, and we are satisfied that Mr. Gonzalez is not being pressured or coerced in any way in his desire to be reunited with his son.”

Elian was found at sea Nov. 25, two days after his mother and 10 others drowned when a smuggler’s boat sailing from Cardenas, Cuba, to Florida capsized in the Gulf Stream. In the 100 days since his rescue, the boy has become an icon for many Cuban exiles who oppose the Communist regime of Fidel Castro.

In January, U.S. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno ratified an Immigration and Naturalization Service ruling that the boy should be returned to Cuba.

Attorneys for Lazaro Gonzalez are pressing for an asylum hearing in which they would be able to present evidence that Elian will face a life of persecution and harm if he is returned to the island and that those dangers override even the strongest father-son relationship.

To accommodate the large contingent of news media, lawyers and curious citizens following Elian’s case, Thursday’s hearing was held in the ornate central courtroom in Miami’s old federal courthouse. Outside, about 50 anti-Castro exiles waved Cuban flags while expressing their hopes that Elian will be permitted to remain in the U.S.

If the judge orders the INS to conduct an asylum hearing, it would be held within 60 days, said attorneys for the family.

Juan Miguel Gonzalez said he had no plans to argue in a U.S. courtroom for his son’s return, but he expressed confidence that Elian will return.

Times researcher Anna M. Virtue contributed to this report.