'Home,' the Best Place to Be

My careers as a journalist, an English as a Second Language instructor and an immigration enforcement advocate all began simultaneously in the late 1980s. Shortly after I moved to California’s immigrant-heavy San Joaquin Valley from Seattle, I responded to an advertisement in the local paper for an ESL teacher. The principal later told me that because the Reagan administration’s Immigration Reform and Control Act was about to launch, he knew the class size would triple and more teachers would be needed. IRCA required 40 hours of English language instruction. At about the same time, the daily The Stockton Record, now The Record, put out a request for guest editorial opinion writers. I was chosen and my ESL classroom experiences enabled me to write unique content. I learned firsthand from my green card seekers, most Mexican farm laborers and Southeast Asian war refugees, about federal immigration law. Their personal stories were eye-opening.

Before too long, I decided that I would never talk about immigration unless the students brought the subject up first. My decision was voluntary, no mandate came from the school principal, the district superintendent or my fellow teachers even though all were aware of my op-ed’s enforcement tone. Even though immigration was a hot-button topic in 1990s California, the debate was civil. Today, my published opinions would result in an immediate dismissal with a possible punishment of wearing sackcloth and ashes in public.

Although I encouraged conversation, the students were often too shy to engage. But in 1999, an event occurred that elicited unsolicited opinions from across the globe, including my students. Should Elian Gonzalez, the six-year-old boy who survived after a small aluminum boat carrying his mother, Elizabeth Brotons Rodríguez, and twelve other passengers sank, remain in the U.S. or return to Cuba? Gonzalez, clinging to an inner tube, floated at sea for two days until two fishermen rescued him and turned him over to the Coast Guard. After receiving medical clearance, Elian’s Miami relatives took custody. At that point, everyone who had a forum spoke their piece---should he stay or should he go?

Most Americans, consistent with federal immigration law, felt that the boy belonged with his father in Cuba. Larry King, Nancy Grace, Gloria Estefan, the Havana-born lead singer of the Miami Sound Machine and dozens of society’s prominent figures were omni-present sharing their opinions day and night that the boy should remain.

At issue was whether Gonzalez qualified for permanent residency under the Cuban Adjustment Act (CAA) which provided political asylum for Cubans who fled their country. Under the act, Cuban refugees without visas entering the U. S. were paroled, then after a year, they could apply for permanent resident status. The U.S. also issued 20,000 lottery visas every year to Cuban nationals under the wet foot, dry foot policy. Since repealed, Cubans who reached the mainland were granted asylum, while those who were intercepted at sea were returned.

The Cuban Americans felt Elian qualified for asylum and should be allowed to stay. After a pre-dawn raid on April 22, 2000, enforcement agents took possession of Elian. INS subsequently flew six-year-old Elian out of Miami aboard a Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System aircraft.

INS also stated in the days after the raid that, reminiscent of ICE’s Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis, it had identified as many as two dozen persons who were "prepared to thwart any government operation", some carried concealed weapons while others had criminal records.

Approximately 100 people protested the raid as it occurred, with some calling the INS agents "assassins.” Then-New York City Mayor and senate hopeful Rudy Giuliani described Border Patrol Tactical Unit agents involved in Elian’s seizure as "storm troopers" at least six times. Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association reacted with "strong disgust and dismay" to the Nazi imagery and demanded Giuliani's apology. Hillary Clinton, then running against Giuliani for the 2000 United States Senate election in New York, agreed with FLEOA in asking for an apology. Giuliani refused to apologize, although he stated his criticism was aimed at President Bill Clinton (D) and Attorney General Janet Reno.

Four hours after he was taken from the house in Miami, Gonzalez and his father were reunited at Andrews Air Force Base. The next day, the White House released a photograph showing a smiling Gonzalez reunited with his father, which the Miami relatives disputed by stating that it was a fake Gonzalez in the photograph.

While the family was still at Andrews, the Miami Gonzalez relatives flew to Washington demanding to see Elian. They and their escort, New Hampshire Senator Bob Smith, were turned away from the base by guards. The May 5, 2000, Miami Herald reported that Gonzalez was joined by his classmates and his teacher from his hometown, Cárdenas. The newspaper Granma released pictures of Elian in his José Martí Pioneer Organization uniform.

After González was returned to his father's custody, he remained in the U.S. while the Miami relatives exhausted their legal options. The legal wrangling continued until June 28, 2000, when the Supreme Court declined to review a lower court ruling that the child must remain with his father. In the afternoon of the same day, seven months and one week after he started his ill-fated journey, Gonzalez embarked on a chartered plane from Dulles International Airport to Havana.

In 2016, Gonzalez would publicly praise Cuban leader Fidel Castro's efforts to return him to Cuba, when he said “Fidel was a friend who at a difficult moment was with my family, with my father, and made it possible for me to return to my father, to return to Cuba.” Now an engineer, and member of Cuba’s Congress, Gonzalez disparaged the CAA. Gonzalez wanted to go home; now he’s home, happy, successful and married with a daughter. He found the proverbial “better life” in his native Cuba.

Looking into the rearview mirror, the Clinton administration made an error in judgment when it didn’t immediately order Elian returned, an outcome that most Americans, favoring immigration enforcement, preferred. Quick action would have avoided the seven-month long media circus that surrounded the Gonzalez case, lingered for years afterward and included a tear-jerking 2017 Disney special.

The international incident sparked many lively classroom discussions---one of my original goals--- not only about Elian but the “wet foot, dry foot” regulation which rightfully infuriated Mexicans who wondered why they didn’t get the same benefit. My students, some enrolled in their own citizenship pursuit, mostly came down in favor of Elian remaining.

The broader lesson is that going home is not a punishment. For Gonzalez and the thousands of others who have recently elected to self-deport to their native countries, their cultures and their families, home is the best place to be.

Joe Guzzardi is a nationally syndicated columnist who has written about immigration and other social issues for more than 30 years. Contact him at guzzjoe@yahoo.com