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Morning News

INS Decision to Return Elian Gonzalez Sparks Protests, Legal Action

Aired January 6, 2000 - 10:01 a.m. ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Protests are likely to continue on both sides of the Florida Straits as a six-year-old Cuban Boy wallows in legal limbo. The Miami relatives of Elian Gonzalez say they will go to federal court to fight the immigration order that returns the boy to his father in Cuba.

Within the last half hour, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno said she feels the immigration order was difficult but proper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANET RENO, ATTORNEY GENERAL: ... there's any information that we are not privy to. I never say that I won't reverse myself, I try to be as open-minded as I can, but based on all the information that we have to date, I see no basis for reversing it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: And it's that decision that has sparked outrage among the Cuban community in south Florida.

CNN's Kate Snow explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DORIS MEISSNER, INS COMMISSIONER: After careful evaluation of the relevant facts, INS has determined that Mr. Juan Gonzalez of Cuba has the sole legal authority to speak on behalf of his son, Elian, regarding Elian's immigration status in the United States.

KATE SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Those words give Elian's father the right to decide his son's future. Juan Miguel Gonzalez has said all along he wants his son to live with him in Cuba, but relatives in Miami insist the father is not truly speaking his mind. They say they'll fight to keep Elian in a free country.

SPENCER EIG, GONZALEZ ATTORNEY: This is an unfair and unconstitutional decision. Following the decision, we have immediately sent a letter to Attorney General Janet Reno and to the White House requesting that the attorney general review and reverse this decision.

SNOW: It is more than a legal battle. The INS decision fueled emotional reactions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have no respect for other people's opinions!

SNOW: Little Elian has become a symbol of a much larger political tug-of-war between Miami and Havana, between the Cuban- American community in the United States and Castro supporters in Cuba. Protesters in Miami gathered into the night around the house where Elian's been living. The INS ruling leaves the next step up to Elian's family. The agency hopes the father and great uncle can work out a way to return the child to Cuba by the end of next week.

(on camera): Family members here are trying to keep things as normal as possible for six-year-old Elian. They say he went back to school, today, for the third day, but they say he does have some idea what's happening. Elian apparently saw a news broadcast saying that he would be sent back to Cuba.

Kate Snow, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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