No White Hats Here
Well, it looks like little Elian Gonzalez will be a guest of the good old U.S. of A a little bit longer. Elian is the six-year old Cuban boy found floating on an inner tube after his mother and stepfather drowned in an abortive attempt to reach America from Cuba. A judge in Miami has decided to retain jurisdiction to determine if little Elian will stay here with his great-uncle in Miami or be returned to his father in Cuba. The INS had decided he was to be returned to his Dad, which led to street protests by Miami's Cuban-expatriate community.
I must confess, I had been more than a little ambivalent for a while about how I feel in this case. As a father, I get a gut-level "how DARE they?" reaction when I hear about how this kid, who had to watch his mother and stepfather die, is now being kept away from his Dad. But as an American, of course I think every child deserves to grow up in the affluence and freedom that many Americans enjoy.
But I got knocked off the fence like a tin can when Indiana Representative Dan Burton tried to trump the INS’s decision by using the House Republican leadership’s favorite ploy: he issued a subpoena.
Yes, that’s right, you heard right. Dan Burton subpoenaed a six-year old boy. The subpoena orders Elian to appear before the House Committee on Government Reform. No doubt the kid has some pithy observations to impart to the Committee on the topic of reinventing government.
Then, Burton had the colossal gall to appear on ABC’s "This Week" and admit that he really doesn’t want Elian to testify. He just wants to keep him in the country while these distant relatives maneuver in the courts to get custody.
I’ll just bet Dan doesn’t want the kid to testify. The INS investigation disclosed that Elian's father is no deadbeat Dad. He has a good relationship with his son, not to mention a good job in Cuba's rapidly expanding tourist economy. As for the great-uncle with whom Elian is staying now, it appears that he'd barely seen Elian before the kid was pulled out of the water. All Burton would need is for a six-year old to appear on national TV and burst into tears crying "I want my Daddy. "
Actually, I’m thinking of issuing a subpoena to Congressman Burton so he can appear here in North Carolina. I don’t actually want him to testify, mind you, I just want to keep him from getting up to any more mischief in Washington. Only problem with this tactic is, it’s almost certainly illegal. It’s guaranteed to get me at least a call from the State Bar, and it wouldn’t be to name me "Lawyer of the Year."
The Cuban exile community in Miami has claimed that they’re afraid Fidel Castro will use the boy as a trophy, that he’ll be paraded through the streets of Havana as a sort of human victory cigar to show Castro’s triumph. So what do they then do? They parade him around in front of Cuban supporters to celebrate the subpoena and give him a prominent place in Miami’s Three Kings Day parade.
The final straw came when I read a quote from Lawyer Jose Garcia Pedrosa, who represents the family members who want to keep Elian here. He said "What kind of family is a less important factor in how this boy is raised than which kind of state." Excuse me? The State is more important than the family? This is an AMERICAN speaking? Last I heard, we were into the rights of the individual, not to mention "family values."
Long story short, I am ambivalent no more. I have seen the tactics and the attitudes of these so-called "advocates of freedom" and I can’t tell who the good guys are anymore. In putting the political philosophy of the State over the rights of the parent, we are in danger of becoming that which we most hate. Furthermore, if keeping this kid in America means siding with the type of jerk that would issue a bogus subpoena for a six-year- old, then send him back. If keeping him here means siding with people who think the State is a bigger factor in a child’s life than his father, then send him back. This isn’t the America I know. It’s not an America I want any child to see. Send the kid back until we can start acting like the good guys again.
Dusty Rhoades is a lawyer in Southern Pines, North Carolina, and you’d think he’d go a little easier on Dan Burton, since it was Burton’s calling President Clinton a "scumbag" that led to this column.
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