The
custodyChild custody and guardianship are legal terms which are sometimes used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent and his or her child, such as the right of the parent to make decisions for the child, and the parent's duty to care for the child.Following ratification of the...
and
immigrationImmigration is the arrival of new individuals into a habitat or population. It is a biological concept and is important in population ecology, differentiated from emigration and migration.-As a political term:...
status of a young
CubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city. Cuba is home to over 11 million people and is...
n boy,
Elián González (born December 6, 1993), was at the center of a heated controversy in 2000 involving the governments of
CubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city. Cuba is home to over 11 million people and is...
and the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, his father, his
MiamiMiami is a major coastal city in southeastern Florida, in the United States. Miami is the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida. With an estimated population of 424,662 in 2007, Miami is the largest city within the Miami metropolitan area, which is the...
and Cuban relatives, and the Cuban-American community of Miami. However, a district court's ruling that the Miami relative could not petition for asylum on the boy's behalf was upheld by the
11th Circuit Court of AppealsThe United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Middle District of Alabama* Northern District of Alabama...
in Atlanta, and after the
U.S. Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal judiciary. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed with the "advice and consent" of the Senate...
refused to hear the case, Elián González returned to Cuba with his father, Juan Miguel González Quintana, on June 28, 2000.
Background
Hostility between Cuba and the United States has been persistent since the
Cuban RevolutionThe Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt that led to the overthrow of U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista of Cuba on January 1, 1959 by the 26th of July Movement led by Fidel Castro....
. During that period, a considerable number of Cubans have tried to leave for the United States covertly, seeking alternative economic, social or political conditions. This
emigrationEmigration is the act of leaving one's native country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state, is termed migration. There are many reasons why...
is illegal under both Cuban and U.S. law; any Cuban found at sea, attempting to reach U.S. shores, will be deported by the
U.S. Coast GuardThe United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of seven uniformed services. It is unique among the military branches in that it has a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency mission as part of its mission set...
or if discovered by Cuban
policeA police service is a public force empowered to enforce the law and provide security through the legitimized use of force.The term is most commonly associated with police services of a state that are authorized to exercise the police power of that state within a defined legal or territorial area of...
, ostracized and prohibited from most Cuban institutions. U.S. policy has evolved into the current
"wet feet, dry feet" ruleThe wet foot, dry foot policy is the name given to a consequence of the 1995 revision of the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966 that says, essentially, that anyone who fled Cuba and got into the United States would be allowed to pursue residency a year later...
: If a Cuban is picked up at sea or walking toward shore, he/she will be
repatriatedRepatriation The process of returning a person back to one's place of origin or citizenship. This includes the process of returning refugees or soldiers to their place of origin following a war...
by force. If he/she can make it to shore ("dry feet"), he/she is permitted to make a case for political asylum.
Cubans who make it to U.S. soil are generally allowed to remain in the country and given an opportunity to assert a claim to
refugeeUnder the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is a person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted on account of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of their nationality,...
status, usually under the premise that they would face persecution if they were returned to Cuba. This differs from U.S. immigration policy applied to refugees of other Caribbean nations, notably
HaitiHaiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Creole- and French-speaking Caribbean country. Along with the Dominican Republic, it occupies the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago...
ans. To monitor whether the returned Cubans are subjected to persecution, the
U.S. Interest Section in HavanaThe United States Interests Section of the Embassy of Switzerland in Havana, Cuba or USINT Havana represents US interests in Cuba. It is staffed by United States Foreign Service personnel and local staff employed by the US Department of State...
, in cooperation with international organizations, maintains follow-up contact with the returned Cubans. The result of this monitoring has been a conclusion that there is no systematic policy of the Cuban government to persecute those Cubans who have been returned.
Elián's journey and the beginning of the custody battle
In November 1999, Elián, his mother, and twelve others left Cuba on a small aluminum boat with a faulty engine; Elián's mother and ten others died in the crossing. Elián and the other two survivors floated at sea on an
inner tubeA tire is a ring-shaped covering that fits around a wheel to protect it and enable better vehicle performance by providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock while keeping the wheel in close contact with the ground...
until they were rescued by two fishermen who turned him over to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Marisleysis Gonzalez, 21, Elián's cousin, said Elián told her the motor had broken on the boat and its passengers had tried in vain to bail out the water with nylon bags but that a storm doomed their efforts. Elián told her he tried to help get the water out and that his mother's boyfriend placed him in an inner tube for safety. "He said afterwards that he fell asleep and that when he woke up he never saw his mother again." He said, "I think she drowned too because she didn't know how to swim." Nivaldo Fernández Ferran, one of the three survivors on the boat said, "Elizabet protected her son to the end". According to Ferran, they set out on their trip at 4 a.m., Nov. 21, 1999, dragging inflated rubber floats, or inner tubes, in case they needed them. As they encountered bad weather, the boat's engine failed and the craft began to fill with water. After it went under, the passengers clung to the inner tubes in cold water, with waves reaching heights of three to four meters (10 to 13 feet).
The
Immigration and Naturalization ServiceThe United States Immigration and Naturalization Service was a part of the United States Department of Justice and handled legal and illegal immigration and naturalization. It ceased to exist on March 1, 2003....
(INS) released Elián to his paternal great-uncle, Lázaro González. According to the
Washington Post, Elián's father Juan Miguel González Quintana had telephoned Lázaro from Cuba on November 22, 1999, to advise that Elián and his mother had left Cuba without Juan Miguel's knowledge, and to watch for their arrival. However, Lázaro González, backed by local Cuban-Americans, soon took the position that the boy should remain in the United States, and not be returned to his father in Cuba. Marisleysis (Lázaro's adult daughter), became the principal
caretakerCaretaker usually refers to one of the following:* A person that has the responsibility of looking after buildings and the smooth running of an estate...
of Elián, and quickly became a well-known television figure.
Armando GutierrezArmando Gutierrez is a multi-area entrepreneur in the United States.- Background :Gutierrez was born in Cuba, then moved to the United States, where he spent several years in New Jersey and eventually settled in Miami, Florida...
, a local Cuban American businessman was self-appointed the family spokesperson. However, Juan Miguel, with the support of his nation's authorities, demanded that the boy be returned to the care of his father.
For much of early 2000, Elián's plight dominated the news in the United States and in Cuba.
On January 21, 2000, Elián's grandmothers, Mariela Quintana and Raquel Rodríguez, flew from Havana to the United States to seek their grandson's return to Cuba. While they were able to meet with the boy only once (at the Miami Beach home of
Barry UniversityBarry University is a private Catholic university, which was founded in 1940 in Miami Shores, Florida, a suburb northeast of Downtown Miami. It is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami. Barry offers business, nursing, health sciences, teacher education, and liberal arts programs...
president Sister Jeanne O'Laughlin), they journeyed to Washington and met with congressmen and
Attorney GeneralIn most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may in addition have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.-Usage:The term has traditionally...
Janet RenoJanet Wood Reno is the former Attorney General of the United States . She was nominated by President Bill Clinton on February 11, 1993, and confirmed on March 11...
. After nine days of relentless media coverage (during which Republican lawmakers acknowledged they did not have the votes to pass a bill to give Elián U.S. citizenship), the two women returned to Cuba to "a hero's welcome".
On January 28, Spanish Foreign Minister
Abel MatutesM. Abel Matutes is a Spanish politician who served as Spain's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 6 May 1996 to 2000. Matutes was born in Ibiza on 31 October 1941 and his early political life was in that region. He was Mayor of Ibiza in 1970 and 1971 and became Senator for Ibiza and Formentera in 1977...
called for the boy's return to Cuba, stating that
international lawPublic international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states, analogous entities, such as the Holy See, and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
dictated the return. Meanwhile, the Miami Gonzálezes fought off allegations that they had offered Juan Miguel a house and a car if he abandoned the action and joined his son in Miami.
Through January and February, Juan Miguel sent a number of open letters to the U.S. Government (they were published in, among other places, the Cuban newspaper
GranmaGranma may refer to:*Slang for grandmother*Granma , a yacht in which Fidel Castro and his revolutionary expedition sailed to Cuba in 1956*Granma , the official newspaper of the Cuban Communist Party...
) demanding the return of his son and refusing the Miami relatives' demands.
On March 21, a Federal judge dismissed the relatives' petition for asylum which they had filed on behalf of Elián. Lázaro vowed to appeal. On March 29, Miami-Dade County Mayor
Alex PenelasAlexander "Alex" Penelas is the former mayor of Miami-Dade County, Florida.-Schooling and Personal Life:Penelas, a Cuban-American, attended college at St. Thomas University...
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 Minutes60 Minutes is an American investigative television newsmagazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by long time producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation. It has been among the top-rated TV programs for much of its life,...
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."
Elián remained a subject of media attention as he went to Walt Disney World one day, then met with politicians the next. Throughout the custody battle, opinion polls showed that around two-thirds of Americans thought Elián should be returned to his father. On April 19, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruled that Elián must stay in the U.S. until the Miami Gonzálezes could appeal for an asylum hearing in May.
Elián taken by Federal authorities
Attorney GeneralIn most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may in addition have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.-Usage:The term has traditionally...
Janet RenoJanet Wood Reno is the former Attorney General of the United States . She was nominated by President Bill Clinton on February 11, 1993, and confirmed on March 11...
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."
In the pre-dawn hours of April 22, pursuant to an order issued by a federal magistrate, eight
SWATA SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in American and some international law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...
-equipped agents of the
Border PatrolThe United States Border Patrol is a federal law enforcement agency within U.S. Customs and Border Protection , a component of the Department of Homeland Security . Its 19,400 agents are primarily responsible for immigration and border law enforcement as codified in the Immigration and Nationality...
's
BORTACBORTAC is an initialism for the United States "Border Patrol Tactical Unit". BORTAC is the tactical team of the United States Border Patrol.-Mission:...
unit as part of an operation in which more than 130 INS personnel took part 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. In the confusion
Armando GutierrezArmando Gutierrez is a multi-area entrepreneur in the United States.- Background :Gutierrez was born in Cuba, then moved to the United States, where he spent several years in New Jersey and eventually settled in Miami, Florida...
called in Alan Diaz, of the
Associated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, 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. It was later falsely claimed by Marisleysis Gonzalez, that once they found the locked door to the room, agents kicked it down; however, photos taken by Alan Diaz prove that the door was intact and the damage to it, as well as damage that Marisleysis claimed was done to the room and to Elián's bed, had all been done after the INS agents had left, most likely by the residents of the house.
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 recordA criminal record is a record of a person's criminal history, generally used by potential employers, lenders etc. to assess his or her trustworthiness. The information included in a criminal record varies between countries and even between jurisdictions within a country...
s. 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, 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 HavanaLittle Havana is a neighborhood and former census-designated place within the City of Miami, Florida, United States. It has many Cuban immigrant residents. Little Havana is named after Havana, the capital and largest city in Cuba...
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 CountyMiami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the state of Florida. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the county population was 2,387,170 in 2007, making it the most populous county in Florida and the ninth most populous county in the United States...
businesses closed, as their owners and managers participated in a short
boycottA boycott is a form of consumer activism involving the act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons.-Etymology:...
.
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." There were two major foci in the coverage: the INS raid and the family reunions.
Elián returned to father's custody
Four hours after he was taken from the house in Miami, Elián and his father were reunited at
Andrews Air Force BaseJoint Base Andrews Naval Air Facility Washington, formerly Andrews Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force base in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, eight miles east of Washington, D.C.....
. The next day, the White House released a photograph showing a smiling Elián reunited with his father, which the Miami relatives disputed by claiming that it was a fake Elián in the photograph. Later, Elián and his family were to be taken to the Aspen Institute Wye River Conference Center (formerly known as "Wye Plantation"). The media was barred from access to the family. While the family was still at Andrews, New Hampshire Senator
Bob SmithRobert C. "Bob" Smith is an American politician who has served in both the United States House of Representatives and the Senate. He is a member of the Republican Party.-Early life:Smith was born in Trenton, New Jersey...
, escorting the Miami Gonzálezes, was turned away from the base by guards. The May 5, 2000,
Miami Herald reported that Elián was joined by his classmates (without their parents) and his teacher from his hometown,
CárdenasCárdenas is a municipality and city in the Matanzas Province of Cuba, about east of Havana.-Geography:Cárdenas is a maritime port town on the level and somewhat marshy shore of a spacious bay of the northern coast of the island , sheltered by a long promontory...
.
GranmaGranma is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party.Its name comes from the yacht Granma that carried Fidel Castro and 81 other rebels to Cuba's shores in 1956 launching the Cuban Revolution.-Editions:...
released pictures of Elián in the Young Pioneer uniform of Cuba's Communist youth league. On May 6, 2000, attorney
Greg CraigGregory Bestor "Greg" Craig is a Washington-based lawyer and current White House Counsel to President Barack Obama. He has represented numerous high-profile clients, including John Hinckley, Jr., who was acquitted of the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan by reason of insanity...
took Elián and Juan Miguel to a dinner in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC, hosted by Smith and Elizabeth Bagley.
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 standingStanding or locus standi is the term for ability of a party to demonstrate to the court sufficient connection to and harm from the law or action challenged to support that party's participation in the case...
. On June 28, 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the decision. Later the same day, Elián González and his family returned home to Cuba.
Return to Cuba
Elián now lives with his family in Cárdenas, where his father, Juan Miguel, is a waiter at an Italian restaurant about 20 km northwest of Cárdenas. The Cuban State Security has set up a monitoring station right next door. Elián's father was interviewed at the restaurant in 2004 by
Keith MorrisonKeith Morrison is a veteran broadcast journalist. Since 1995 he has been a correspondent for Dateline NBC.Morrison was born in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, Canada and got his start in 1966 working for the Saskatoon StarPhoenix before moving on to radio and then television...
of the
NBC NewsNBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. Its current president is Steve Capus.-Caravan era:The first American television newscast in history was made by NBC News on February 21, 1940, anchored by Lowell Thomas and airing weeknights at 6:45 pm. In 1948, NBC teamed up with...
program
Dateline NBCDateline NBC, or Dateline, is a U.S. weekly television newsmagazine broadcast by NBC. It is similar in scope to ABC's 20/20 or CBS's 60 Minutes.-History:...
and
Cover to CoverCover to Cover is a TV program on the business channel CNBC. It deals especially with criminology and trial cases. The anchor is Liz Claman...
on
CNBCCNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBC Universal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...
. Juan Miguel told Morrison that Elián feared reporters, so Morrison could not interview Elián, but Juan Miguel filmed a home video on which Elián was shown doing his arithmetic homework with Juan Miguel in their dining room, going to bed in his bedroom with his younger half-brother, and attending karate lessons. Elián's family had moved to another home to evade reporters.
Morrison's TV report also showed a 18th-century building in Cárdenas which was previously used as a
fire stationA fire station is a structure or other area set aside for storage of firefighting apparatus , personal protective equipment, fire hose, fire extinguishers, and other fire extinguishing equipment...
and which was renovated and inaugurated on July 14, 2001, as a museum, called Museo de la Batalla de Ideas ("Museum of the Battle of Ideas"), which includes an Elián exhibition room with a life-size bronze statue of Elián raising a clenched fist. Ironically, the former González home in Miami has similarly been turned into a museum, with the boy's bedroom left unaltered. Juan Miguel is also a member of the National Assembly and has attended events for the
Communist Party of CubaThe Communist Party of Cuba is currently the governing political party in Cuba. It is a Marxist-Leninist organization. The present Cuban constitution ascribes the role of the Party to be the "leading force of society and of the state"...
with Elián, who has been called up to the stage to meet
Fidel CastroFidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban politician, one of the primary leaders of the Cuban Revolution, the Prime Minister of Cuba from February 1959 to December 1976, and then the President of the Council of State of Cuba until his resignation from the office in February 2008...
. Castro also attended a filmed birthday party of Elián with his schoolmates. On the video of the birthday party, a female clown told Elián to blow out the birthday candles with Fidel to his right and surrounded by Elián's schoolmates.
In September 2005, Elián was interviewed by
60 Minutes and stated during the interview that Fidel Castro was a friend, and that he considers Castro "not only as a friend but as a father." In December 2006, an ill Fidel Castro was unable to attend González's 13th birthday celebration, so his brother
RaúlBrigadier-General ' Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz is the President of the Cuban Council of State and the President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba...
stood in instead.
On August 16, 2006, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of an excessive force lawsuit brought by Dalrymple and others against the Federal Government and Reno.
González joined the Young Communist Union of Cuba in June 2008 shortly after graduating junior high school. Elian now nearly 16 (Dec 09) is in millitary school in Cuba.
Ramifications
The Elián González saga exposed deep divisions among the residents of Miami-Dade County. While there were protests in favor of Elián staying in the United States, there were similarly demonstrations in favor of sending the boy back to live with his father.
Commentators have suggested that the Elián González affair may have been a factor in voters' decisions, which could have affected the close outcome in Florida. Al Gore's handling of the matter may have been as great a factor as anger by the predominantly Republican Cuban community over the boy's return to Cuba. Gore initially supported Republican legislation to give the boy and his father permanent residence status, but later supported the Administration position. He was attacked for both pandering and being inconsistent.
Critical views
Throughout the case, elected officials from both political parties were attacked for getting involved in what some people believed was a private matter between two families. On April 9, 2000,
Richard CohenRichard Cohen, a syndicated columnist for the Washington Post, is a graduate of Far Rockaway High School and attended Hunter College, New York University, and Columbia University. He is a four-time honorable-mention winner in Pulitzer Prize competitions. Cohen splits his time between Washington, D.C...
of
The Washington PostThe Washington Post is the newspaper with the largest circulation in Washington, D.C. and is the city's oldest paper, founded in 1877. Being located in the nation's capital, it has a particular emphasis on national politics and international affairs...
wrote: "Elián and Juan Miguel González, son and father. The former is an innocent child, the latter a man whose boy was taken from him. Elián has behaved like a typical 6-year-old, Juan Miguel like a typical father. And most of the politicians like typical fools."
See also
- Cuban exile
The term "Cuban exile" refers to the many Cubans who have sought alternative political or economic conditions outside the island, dating back to the Ten Years' War and the struggle for Cuban independence during the 19th century...
- Cuba-United States relations
Cuba and the United States of America have had an interest in one another since well before either of their independence movements. Plans for purchase of the nearby island have been put forward at various times by the United States...
- Quintuplets 2000
"Quintuplets 2000" is episode 52 in the fourth season of the Comedy Central series South Park. It was originally broadcast on April 26, 2000...
Further reading
- De La Torre, Miguel A.
Miguel A. De La Torre is an associate-professor of social ethics at Iliff School of Theology, a religious scholar, author, and an ordained minister.-Biography:...
, "La Lucha for Cuba: Religion and Politics on the Streets of Miami," University of California Press, 2003.
External links
- Official Cuban website: about the custody battle for Elián
- BORTAC: defusing the hot spots, CBP Today - May 2004 article on U.S. Border Patrol BORTAC
BORTAC is an initialism for the United States "Border Patrol Tactical Unit". BORTAC is the tactical team of the United States Border Patrol.-Mission:...
Program.