so why was sending the kid home to his dad a bad thing?
what gave the aunts and uncles more rights than his dad?
http://havanajournal.com/culture/ent...eturn_to_cuba/from wiki
On March 21, a Federal judge dismissed the relatives' petition for asylum which they had filed on behalf of Elián. Lázaro vowed to appeal.[9] On March 29, Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas was joined by 22 other civic leaders in a speech in downtown Miami. Penelas indicated that the municipality would not cooperate with Federal authorities on any repatriation of the boy, and would not lend police or other assistance in taking the boy.
On April 14, a video was released in which Elián tells Juan Miguel that he wants to stay in the United States. However, many considered that he had been coached, as a male voice was heard off-camera directing the young boy. In a September 2005 interview with 60 Minutes after being sent back to Cuba, Elián stated that during his stay in the U.S., his family members were "telling me bad things about [my father]," and "were also telling me to tell him that I did not want to go back to Cuba, and I always told them I wanted to."[10]
Attorney General Janet Reno ordered the return of Elián to his father and set a deadline of April 13, 2000, but the Miami relatives defied the order. Negotiations continued for several days as the house was surrounded by protesters as well as police. The relatives insisted on guarantees that they could live with the child for several months and retain custody, and that Elián would not be returned to Cuba. Negotiations carried on throughout the night, but Reno stated that the relatives rejected all workable solutions. A Florida family court judge revoked Lázaro's temporary custody, clearing the way for Elián to be returned to his father's custody. On April 20, Reno made the decision to remove Elián González from the house and instructed law enforcement officials to determine the best time to obtain the boy. After being informed of the decision, Marisleysis said to a Justice Department community relations officer, "You think we just have cameras in the house? If people try to come in, they could be hurt."[12]
Alan Diaz's Pulitzer Prize winning photograph from the affair.
In the pre-dawn hours of April 22, pursuant to an order issued by a federal magistrate, eight SWAT-equipped agents of the Border Patrol's BORTAC unit as part of an operation in which more than 130 INS personnel took part[13] approached the house; they knocked, and identified themselves. When no one responded from within, they entered the house. Pepper-spray and mace were employed against those outside the house who attempted to interfere. Nonetheless, a stool, rocks, and bottles were thrown at the agents.[14] In the confusion Alan Diaz, of the Associated Press, was able to enter the house and entered a room with Elián, his great uncle's wife Angela Lázaro, her niece, the niece's young son, and Donato Dalrymple (one of the fishermen who had rescued him from the ocean). They waited in the room listening to agents search the house. Once they found the locked door to the room, agents kicked it down and Alan Diaz took his famous picture (he won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography) showing a BORTAC Agent with a MP5 submachine gun pointed toward Elián and Donato Dalrymple. The Agent had his trigger finger along the frame of the weapon. Dalrymple had taken Elián and had tried to hide himself and the boy in the closet but it was too stuffed with clothes.[15][16]
Attorney General Janet Reno, enforced a judge's order that Elián be returned to his father
INS also stated in the days after the raid that they had identified as many as two dozen persons who were "prepared to thwart any government operation," some of whom had concealed weapons permits while others had criminal records.[17][18] The INS noted reported statements made by members of the Lázaro family that they were prepared to deal with any intrusion on their property by force if authorities attempted to take Elián without their consent.
"Assassins!" yelled some of the approximately 100 protesters[citation needed], some of whom climbed over the barricades in an attempt to stop the agents. Within an hour of the raid, the crowd in Little Havana quickly swelled to about 300. Several tried to rip apart and burn an American flag. Hundreds of outraged protesters poured out into the streets of Little Havana and demonstrated, burning garbage containers, tires, and trees. Crowds jammed a more than 10-block area of Little Havana. Police in riot gear were deployed and tear gas was used. Shortly afterwards, many Miami-Dade County businesses closed, as their owners and managers participated in a short boycott.[citation needed]
Public opinion about the INS raid on the Miami Gonzalezes' house was widely polarized. A Time magazine issue showed a joyful photo of Elián being reunited with his father (the caption says "Papa!"), while Newsweek ran an issue that focused on the raid, its title stating, "Seizing Elián."[19] There were two major foci in the coverage: the INS raid and the family reunions.[20]
After Elián was returned to his father's custody, he remained in the U.S. while the Miami relatives exhausted their legal options. A three-judge federal panel had ruled that he could not go back to Cuba until he was granted an asylum hearing, but the case turned on the right of the relatives to request that hearing on behalf of the boy. On June 1, 2000, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Elián was too young to file for asylum; only his father could speak for him, and the relatives lacked legal standing. On June 28, 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review the decision. Later the same day, Elián González and his family returned home to Cuba.
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