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Adalberto Roque / Reuters, file
Elian Gonzalez attends a ceremony in Havana, Cuba, in June, 2010. On Tuesday, Gonzalez celebrated his 18th birthday.
HAVANA - Elian Gonzalez, the Cuban boy who survived a perilous raft journey that killed his mother and became a symbol of troubled relations between the United States and Cuba, is now an adult.
Gonzalez currently studies at a military academy on the island and took part in an 18th birthday celebration Tuesday in his native city of Cardenas alongside his father, according to images broadcast on state TV.
Gonzalez was shy of his sixth birthday on Thanksgiving Day 1999 when a fisherman found him off the coast of Florida, clinging to an inner tube after his mother and others fleeing Cuba drowned trying to reach American soil.
He was taken to live with relatives in Miami but his father, who was separated from his mother and had remained on the island, demanded that the boy be sent back, saying Elian was taken without his consent. The dispute turned into a headline-grabbing international custody battle that weighed heavy on the 2000 presidential race between George W. Bush and Al Gore.
Alan Diaz / AP, file
Armed federal agents seized Elian Gonzalez from the home of his Miami relatives before dawn on April 22, 2000, firing tear gas into an angry crowd as they left the scene with the weeping 6-year-old boy.
Fidel Castro threw the weight of the Cuban government behind the case, mobilizing seven months of massive demonstrations calling for Gonzalez's repatriation.
It was one of the few moments since 1959 when the Cold War rivals agreed on something: The U.S. legal system ruled that Gonzalez should be returned to his father.
New photos of 16-year-old Elian Gonzalez have been posted on a Cuban government website. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.
But Gonzalez's Miami relatives refused to relinquish him, and on April 22, 2000, federal agents raided Elian's uncle's home in Little Havana and seized the boy from a closet at gunpoint. He returned to Cuba two months later.
On Tuesday, Elian spoke by phone with Rene Gonzalez, a Cuban intelligence agent who was released from prison in the U.S. in October but was ordered to serve three years' parole in the country. Cuba is demanding his return and has made his case and that of the other "Cuban Five" a cause celebre.
"He wished me a happy birthday," said Elian.
The two are not related.
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It's time to end the Cuban National Adjustment Act (CNAA). Cubans use it is as a scam to enter the USA. No nationality, religious group or race or gender should have carte blanche entry rights into the USA. The Cubans have rights that no other group has....the moment they touch US soil they can stay. No other foreign person or group has that right. It's time to end the Cuban National Adjustment Act. The CNAA was enacted when the Cold War was going strong. It was enacted to embarass the communist regime in Cuba. It's now a laughable, pitiful relic of legislation like those old laws that prevent people from forming relationships because they are different racially. The Cubans on the island are no more political refugees than my Uncle Mike from Ireland. This is a scam, a modern version of "The Emperor's New Clothes". It's time to end the Cuban National Adjustment Act.
The Cubans should have to apply for immigration to the US like all other people. Instead of running away from their political problems they should stay and fight like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and all the other thousands of heros of the American Revolution did. The Cubans don't put their lives on the line for freedom. They simply run away to the riches of the US. It's time to end the Cuban National Adjustment Act.
Obama and the Democrats had control of the Senate, House of Representatives and the White House for two years and never enacted any immigration legislation. They could have ended this scam in their first two weeks. Heck, they never even got the Cuban-American vote anyway. I won't vote for Obama again. No one should. Kick him out of the White House like we did to Jimmy Carter. It's time to end the Cuban National Adjustment Act.
We understood you the first four times you said "It's time to end the Cuban National Adjustment Act"; no need for a fifth.
Great 2012 campaign talking point; Republicans should embrace it. After all; it's not like Cuban exiles ever vote for Republicans, right?
Since most all the Republican Presidential Candidates want to build a fence between the U.S. and Mexico, shouldn't we build a fence around Florida, all the Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf of Mexico and Canada as well. He??, why not make the U.S. another Berlin Wall.
Such right wing nut-jobs that are running for President and their Supporters should be required to have an IQ above 50.
Best wishes to Elian. I hope he will see true freedom in his country soon.
I well remember the right wing political hysteria that accompanied this event. There was a concerted effort by a number of right wing republicans( I especially remember this moron from Indiana, Dan Burton) to essentially kidnap this kid and keep him in the United States. It became obvious that political paranoia trumped ( you should forgive the expression ) the family values of these right wing hypocrites. For right wing republicans, it was simple. Because this boys father lived in a communist country, he had no right to ever get his son back. This was a very dark time for American integrity. But then we had the fiasco of the Iraq war... It COULD get worse.
Enjoy your birthday Elian. Meanwhile here in the States we'll continue to tear each other apart over political rivalries.
Right wing nut jobs.
Pinko commie liberals.
Can anyone disprove either one? Were becoming a nation of extremists. Everyone bashes W. for his "your either for us or against us" mentality...and yet everyone employs the exact same tactic about politics.
Ugh.
Americans raped the island for so many centuries; the CNAA is a small price to pay.
I would to clarify that Cubans are not Immigrants.... we are REFUGEES. We are here for political reasons and persecution, not economic ones. So please make sure that you refer to us properly. As long as Cuba is not free, people are killed, and we have no rights, we will continue to be refugees and continue to seek freedom. GOD BLESS THE USA!
Yeah well then stop calling yourselves cuban-americans and go home and fix your own turd country....same thing with all of you other illegal aliens...go home
Boy oh boy you had me until you went and blamed Obama. No one has done anything about this as you say, but yet lay it at Obama's feet for not doing anything. Daily fix I guess?
Janet Reno should be proud of this young man today; and he owes her a BIG THANK YOU.
I'm illegal and loving it!
Peace&Love-327 - Stop the whining.. Millions are being killed in way far worse situations than the Cubans. When you have a tourism industry in your country, you are definitely not on the US Embassy's list of "Don't go there because of the risk of genocide, kidnapping, war" countries. China has far more deaths going on than Cuba due to political repression than Cuba and you don't see the Chinese asking for a law to allow them in. Get over it. The truth is many Cubans on the island support Castro's regime regardless of what the Cuban community screams and shouts about in the US. I get it, Communism sucks and I wouldn't want any part of it but to continue with "We are a repressed people and we are not immigrants, we are refugees" is a bunch of a crap. When you say this, this comes to mind, Somalia, Sudan, Iran, Afghanistan, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Syria, Yemen, and the list goes on.. NOW THESE are repressive regimes that make Cuba a paradise.
Honest J, you seem to be disingenuous. The Republican platform from the 2008 election clearly states support for the Cuban National Act. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/papers_pdf/78545.pdf
Most Cubans would not go back to their home country if it was suddenly a free country. That makes the immigrants and not refugees. After living in Miami and watching over and over the boats full of Haitians being sent back and the boat full of Cubans being embraced, I believe that it is also unfair to single one country out over another. However, the problem is that Cuba will not let their citizens immigrate so there is no such thing as being able to immigrate here legally.... thus our policy.
Is this really news? Who "really" cares???
Thank you Ted from Arizona. US men and women have given their lives, inclulding two of my uncles in WWII and many like them throughout history that has made this country free. Then you have Cuban refugees and illegal immigrants come into this country and enjoy the freedoms from which men and women have died for. The way I feel about Elian is if his dad wanted him back in Cuba, then good riddens; stay there. If his communist cuba is so great, then stay there and stay out of the US. Blood is thicker than water. Keep America free and pass laws that have balls!
Why does this old stuff always have to brought back in the news? Janet Reno handled this nightmare poorly just like Waco!
I love reading these comments there are some good points and some are just so funnyyy, you guys make me laugh and for that I THANK YOUUUU !!!!! But there's one point I strongly agree with : If the US does it for one country they should also do it for all other countries, no exception. Many of the third world countries need our help to stop the atrocities currently happening there within, if some people knowingly risk their lives to escape their country they shouldn't be sent back and that is a strong signal for us to wonder why and step in. The US self-proclaim to be the super power, the world police, the guardian of human rights around the globe, well then it should do it right and be fair about it---NO EXCEPTION !!!!!
isn't this weird, we all know better, but we don't..the pictures show intensified police/ military action on a CHILD..No wonder this Child choose the academy, perhaps to demostrate vivid emotional mistreatment to other individuals..WE live in a very dangerous world of ; Power & Money Manipulation..it's NO WONDER family Values have all gone to Hell..this makes one want to curl-up in a fetal position, all ALONE in the forest........a better way to do things is not part of the program..........
HONESTJ don't blame the Cubans a$$wipe, take it with your congressman. Very strange, though, the communist Cubans agree with you on that, they have been whining for years for that privilege to be removed.
wondered what happened to him. of course this is just a rehash of 12 year old news, and for no reason at all they squeezed in some garbage about an unrelated intelligence agent being on parole after prison but cuba wants him back? ok...
but hey, people that dont die have birthdays, fancy that.
Hey, it's our little buddy, Alien Gonzalez... he's all grown up. Wow.
You raised A LOT OF RUCKUS back in 1999 & 2000, little buddy. I think you should know that.
Dancing - No, Elian did nothing of the sort. He was just a pawn. The ruckus was raised by the people, in the US, who used him. Duh . . . . . .
"Alien Gonzolez" LOL...too funny
But don't worry Alien, er, Elain, whatever...you can always jump on a raft and we'll welcome you with open arms - no pesky visa or passport required
...Viva La Raza!
His poor mother died for nothing while trying to get him to the U.S. Then they sent the boy back to Cuba.
To his FATHER.
DancingSpiderman
Hey, it's our little buddy, Alien Gonzalez... he's all grown up. Wow.
You raised A LOT OF RUCKUS back in 1999 & 2000, little buddy. I think you should know that.
The tone of your post seems to suggest some kind of resentment or hatred against Elian....I'm at a loss....please explain how he was responsible for the ruckus and that somehow, it has escaped his attention that he has been growing up without a mother, or that he endured a perilous frightening event???
Hmmm...now since you seem to be expressing some loathing for his alien status, (as in, I don't like no stinkin' Cubans comin' to America) I assume you were with those of us Americans who believed that returning the child to his father was the RIGHT thing to do. Right??????
31C, calm down. I have no negative feelings about this incident. I feel for that adorable little boy that was on the raft in 1999, and his loving Mom.
I will not spend any more time/effort/money/emotion on placating you. This line is the response I will always have for all who react in the way you did above.
Years ago I supported the idea that IR should remain here in the US. This seem logical to me as his mother died in an escape from Cuba =::died??means she drowned . This is the way I got to a illogical conclustion or one not corrct . Now, today , I think about Father and Mother issues as opposed to the efforts of his mother which seem to me to justify the boy being brought up by his mother's relatives . The right was his fathers and he was NOT opposed to what his mother had done . He, the father , was not living with his wife and I would say they were equal to being divorced - which would be the legal status of both of them if they were in the States . Certainly, they were legally separated . A father right to a underage son bucolically is the greater right . I certain can make the case that Freedom is the greater right , but after reading the Bible , Freedom , is not freedom at all . All freedom is in terms of G-d awareness and faith that there is a G-d and His values are expressed in the Bible .
Nations are judged by their faith in G-d and His commandments according to the Bible . Although in the old testament G-d is not called by the name father in the Hebrew Bible . The assumption is that that G-d and man share an image or form only . The relationship of the man to his sons is defined by actions equaling actions or sins being remembered or forgiven and follow this G-d line of flow . It is the blood of the man and woman. The father's bloodline that is in the direct relationship to the child is the one to be used by G-d , not justice or the laws of nations . Once the mother or father leaves the secession is to the other parent . I was into cause and effect for my definition or the USA definition of freedom 18 years ago . Now , I state I was wrong Freedom in the USA is who pulls what string , so maybe this is a hard lesson and maybe I had a good wish for freedom to mean what the TV or others say it is , even if I never had this freedom . To believe in a dream made by man is to believe in nothing . S0, to believe in laws made by G-d even it has no freedom is correct as man 's laws are slavery to man . No , I am not Black and yes this seems more like the writing of Malcolm X and Black Slavery . The idea of getting back to our roots is just as true for white people as well as blacks. The guideline is the Bible.
The Bible is a guideline? Slavery and polygamy is endorsed in the Bible, no thank you!
What is with spelling God as G-d....I don't get it....
And I am confused, why would you say to believe in something made by man is to believe in nothing, then follow it up with saying that we should believe in and follow the Bible and use it as a guideline...You do realize the Bible was written by man and rewritten dozens of times by man. It was scrutinized by man, reformulated by man, then voted on in searching for the select verses and books according to which ones would instill the appropriate amount of fear into the people and afford the leaders of nations the power to control. It was then translated by man, re-translated by man, and then men found buried scrolls that are thought to be lost books of the bible, these were also written by man. Sorry, I am just confused as to the conflicting wording in your post.
Dr.EndTheDrugWar, I think Chuck is Jewish. They have a belief that you are not suppossed to utter the name of God, as it is holy. This also applied to writing the name of God. Most Jews I know use the term G-d when referring to him in their writings.
My conscience is my bible. I dont need a stupid book to tell me whats right and wrong. Its why you feel good when you do something good and you feel bad when you do something bad. That and my conscience doesnt pretend to know everything about everything in the universe
...as well as rape and incest!
The Bible is a fairy tale book.
I really love all the comments - but especially the one by android about his conscience being his bible. If it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy then do it and if it makes you feel bad then don't. Wow that is deep, and what if skinning small animals makes you feel all warm and fuzzy? Way to go with that well thought out opinion.
You need an instruction manual in order to put a crib together, to fix your car, to put together a bicycle. Do you know why? The Bible is good for wisdom and instruction. I personally would rather use the instruction manual than fumble about without one.
Wonder if Janet Reno has trouble sleeping at night these days? She handle this mess poorly, just like Waco! Clinton should had fired her!
colby-scientology rears its ugly head. "instruction manual" for life. you sound like an add for DIANETICS. if yu are a normal person, your conscience should be your guide to life. it would tell you to do things that all religions preach. kindness, forgiveness, etc. why is our "book" any better than any other "book".
I believe the following festive marching song is appropriate for this "news story"
Dread Zeppelin -- The Immigrant Song
Kinda forgot about him! I remember thinking how sad it was that his mother died trying to find him a better life and we ended up sending him back. We turned him into a Cuban celebrity, at least he got the better life his mother wanted for him, just not here...
Chuck, have the guts to say the word. God. There, that wasn't so hard. As for Elian, I supported him remaining in the U.S. at the time, but now he is nothing but a puppet for Castro and his supporters. Sad. Too bad his mother's wishes were ignored and we gave in to castro because of an election.
So you're for separating families? His father wanted his son back that alone should trump any politics.
"his father wanted his son back that alone should trump any politics"
just because the father wanted his son back does NOT mean that was the best invironment for the child to be in. if the situation in his home country was so bad he risked his life to escape what makes you think for a second that he should be sent back. if you look at the picture that goes with this article you will see a terrified little boy, clinging to a family member as a man shouts at them and waves a GUN in his face. do you REALLY think THAT was in the boys best intrest? who knows if his father was abusive or not? he could have wanted his son back so he could molest him! what would you say if that was the case? would you send him back to that abusive environment just because "his father wanted him back"???
The kid has every right to have confusion and even anger at both the Cuban and American governments, I hardly feel that makes him a puppet for Castro.
The father was not a molester or an abuser. He was a father who believes in his country and his government like many of us do. Had the mother have arrived safely, then the boy could have stayed but she didn't and even though we think that a life in US is preferable to one in Cuba the boy belonged with his father.
I believe however because he is 18 he should be allowed now to say... I want to come to the US and we should welcome him without any immigration hassle.
He didn't risk his life, his mother risked his life, and the reason his mother risked her life to come to the US had nothing to do with freedom. She wanted to come to be with her boyfriend who was a criminal. At the time that the boat sunk the mother placed Elian on a floating tube and left him there to go look for her boyfriend, what kind of a mother would leave her 5 year old son floating on a tube and swim away to go look for an adult, this is a fact because there was a married couple who were on that boat and survived and said they is what they heard, Elian's mother once she placed him on the tube she told him bye and they heard her swim off.
Reminds me of the man whose son was taken by his mother to Brazil then she died in childbirth. The stepfather kept the boy for 5 years with the help of the Brazilian courts before finally relinquishing custody back to the boy's father. It took a lot of political pressure because the stepfather's family was rich and connected. In both cases the father's rights were finally acknowledged as they should have been in the beginning.
Ben Thomas, I followed that case and was so happy that the father finally was able to be reunited with his son, wonderful man, he never gave up the fight. Parents rights should never be denied unless a parent is unfit.
Who gives a sh!t.
You Sir.. Are a FOOL!!!!
What a pity Trent Lott and his gang didn't prevail. Elian could have stayed here in the US, separated from his father and family in the loving arms of...well, no one. After the lights dimmed, Trent and his biys would have scored points with the local crazies they need for re-election and would have dumped this boy like a bad habit.
Pobrecito!
Chico, que tu vas a hacer cuando muera tu "papito" Fidel...?
Aprenda la sobreviviencia bien...el mundo de manana sera distinto...
try English if you live here we no hablar spanishs**t.
We live in a multilinqual country, Mr. Cavar. If you're not going to take the time to learn a second language, try using "Google Translate" .. it's extremely easy to use.
mtnbikeZom.....we live in the USA. The NATIONAL language is English! Although, Mr. Cavar is a little harsh with his words but he does make a good point of knowing the language of the country you are in. After all, if I decide to LIVE(not visit) in Japan; I doubt very much they are going to change their culture and language for MY comfort.
However, to your credit, this board is viewed from people all over the WORLD. Therefore, it would stand to reason that Curious Bob does not live in this "multi-lingual country" which you speak.
mtnbikerZom, no last time I checked we lived in the US and we spoke English. Last time I checked, you were suppose to know English and certain other things in order to become a legal resident in this country. If you want to support the illegals and the 3rd world country crap they bring then please leave. Sick and tired of hearing how we should conform. You are an idiot!
No hara lo que hicistes tu que salistes huyendo!!!
No hara lo que hicistes tu que salistes huyendo!!!
"Poor baby/little boy/youngster...." (meaning will vary slightly, as will "son" in the following line.)
"Son, what are you going to do when your 'daddy,' Fidel dies...?"
"Learn well how to survive...tomorrow's world will be different....."
and...."WE no hablar spanishs**t." Please speak for yourself. And do it correctly...."No hablamos...."
"What do you call someone who speaks 3 languages? Trilingual.
What do you call someone who speaks 2 languages? Bilingual.
What do you call someone who speaks one language? An American."
I have never been able to figure out why so many Americans are proud of being able to communicate in only one language! It has absolutely NOTHING to do, as far as I can tell, with "pride in one's country." I love being able to speak to other people in their own language, either here or "there." I wish I spoke several more!
Also, just a word of caution...don't put all faith in "Google translate..." Some of my former students have had "bleeding" papers handed back to them because of their reliance on those "translation" sites.
THERE now....that wasn't so hard, was it?
No hara lo que hicistes tu que salistes huyendo!!!
Hey sunpigs, when was the last time you were in another country that spoke more than just their own language as a majority. Never, nowhere. Before you start picking on the Americans, maybe you should take a minute to actually research your data. In Mexico, they speak spanish, in Italy they speak italian, and so on and so forth. There are more languages probably spoken in the US, and are more tolerant to other languages and cultures, than any other country. Now I can see why this country is in an avalanche, stupid people like you vote for stupid people like our president who has done NOTHING for this economy but increase the debt, increase the jobless rate and increase the stupidity of people. Has nothing to do with his race, he is just not cut out for being president and never was. Please move to another country or hold your tongue and your vote. I have rarely ever heard anyone in the US state that they dont want other cultures here, or other languages for that matter, they just want the cultures that move here to learn the main language and leave their 3rd world values back at their home country or stay there. Whats the problem here? Guessing you are liberal.
However, the Official Language for Illegals and Anchor Babies is espanish...
Viva La Raza! La Cucaracha! Tequila!
AZkid1
In Nigeria they speak many different languages which the children have to learn in school. English is one of them. I honestly don't believe learning another language is conforming, its making you a better communicator.
Just an enlightenment.
sunpigs, I don't think it is about being proud of only speaking one language, it's about the frustration that Americans feel over having to accommodate those who live in the US and don't know english and don't want to learn the language but yet expect the Americans to learn their language. I work in a job that if you don't know spanish you can't work here because we have so many spanish speaking persons and some demand things that you want to say to them, "you do know we live in the U.S.A. learn the language".
All of you are wrong!! The USA has NO OFFICIAL LANGUAGE AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL!!
By the way, Spanish is a good language spoken by millions of people, its part of the Romance Languages, as in, it descends from Latin...Latin was used by a highly civilized group of people called the ROMANS, English in the other hand was used by barbaric people, prostitutes, pimps, criminals, and uncivilized people. Don't believe me look it up in history.
And for the record Mexicans, La Raza, Mariachi and Tequila don't apply to Cubans, because they are a DIFFERENT COUNTRY WITH A DIFFERENT CULTURE. Man! Americans never cease to amaze me with their stupidity!!
Y para terminar porfavor metanse todo su dediyo gordo por el fundillo mendigos punales. Esto es de parte de toda la gente que habla espanol.
No one, at least I'm saying that the spanish language is not good, its fine, what I'm trying to say (if you weren't so sensitive) is that if you come to this country and are here to stay, at least learn the language to a degree were you can communicate. Is it not unbelievable to expect for others to have to learn their language cause they don't want to learn the lanuage of the country they moved to.
I was going to also post what El Chapo Guzman did about the US not having an official language. But on the other hand, I know how people like lu-2005066 feel. It's frustrating because even though English is not the country's official language, it's definitely the accepted language. So it seems that most people would understand that and try to learn a little. It sucks to lose out on a regular job or get paid less because you don't know a foreign language. And I'm Mexican so you can imagine the looks I get and head shakes from other Mexicans who try to speak to me in Spanish which I don't understand. I think really what it all boils down to is that immigrants nowadays seem to just drain the system without contributing anything. Don't get me wrong, they work for their wages (and often send them back to their native homeland) but that's it. They don't really seem to assimilate. I think that's probably the frustration for most non-racists regarding immgrants.
English is not the official language of this country. we don't have one official language and that's how our forefathers wanted it. just because you're too stupid and lazy to learn another language does not mean everyone else should speak/write English
First of all Cavar is a Spanish surname, second, yanks do not know how to speak English correctly either, third, Spanish speaker in America kill both the Spanish language and English language with Spanglish. Either way seems both of you speak Ebonics 24/7. I wonder how many Anglo Americans would actually do the jobs the Latin Americans / Eastern Europeans that are not legal in America. America without cheap labor or a system it can go around without breaking the law, would self-destruct. How many Anglo or Afro Americans would actually pick tomatoes, clean tables at restuarants, work in launderettes, would be a utopia!!! All Empiers have a fall and America will fall such as Roma,Spain, and England fell......
Please forgive us stupid Americans....it is rather hard to keep track of so many different cultures -particularly when you have so many streaming across the border every day
we try to accommodate you by providing free handouts, citizenship for your anchor babies and by printing signs in your native tongue, but that still isn't enough, apparently
OK class...repeat after me: uno, dos, tres....
Hey El Chapo,

Maybe you need to learn a little history before you go spouting your crap. "Romans" "highly civilized"? Really? And where did raping, murdering and pillaging of other cultures and civilizations get them? It led to their downfall. And by the way, English is also based on Latin. Brush up on your linguistics knowledge. English speaking peoples have led the way into this modern age, not Spanish speaking peoples. For where we are standing, it looks like they are just sucking off of us, destroying our ecomony, bankrupting our educational and health care systems, thumbing their noses at our laws....
Also, way to be completely racist and judgemental -- English is also a good language spoken by millions of people who are not all pimps, prostitutes, and criminals, etc. I don't think anyone here is actually asserting that English is somehow better, just that when you come here to LIVE and take advantage of our freedoms, you should have the respect to learn the language of this country. Your outrage at "the stupidity of Americans" instead shows in fact how incredibly stupid YOU are. If English speaking people are so uncivilized, then why are you here? In fact, why do you even bother with us neanderthals? Why don't you go back to the more "civilized" country from which you came? Oh wait, let me guess, you came here illegally or your parents did.... Hypocrit.
Wonder if he will start an Occupy Havana movement?
He could have grown up with those crazies in Miami who he didn't know and who would have told him all kinds of terrible things about the Cuban government.
Instead he grew up Cuba, and he was probably told terrible things about our government.
But he knows that our "terrible government" removed him from people he didn't know and reunited him with his father.
We did the right thing.
We sent him back & we should send all the Mexicans back as well. If we did then maby O"bumbum would not get re elected and americans could get jobs. P;S; no more wellfare get a job , this is for all those getto baby factories .
Who would do all the house cleaning, picking crops, yard work, chicken processing, construction etc. all at very low wages? The employers of illegals would not be very happy.
Susan your and idiot
Blacks. As they were meant to do at the founding of this country.
Let's see, we have Debbie's racism, and Lisa's lack of schooling; things are looking good for this country. lol
Why are Mexicans being criticized in this discussion? If anyone needs refugee status at this time it would be Mexicans with the increasing violence and killing of innocent people in the country. By the way, the last time I drove by the "welfare" office the majority of people were white. Don't be mad because Mexicans are hard workers and beat you to the punch.
Susan Xmas, there are plenty of white americans that do nothing, sitting out in their trailer homes and don't work at all and don't want to either, they don't even own a t.v. or have electricity. And these of tons of white americans. You are generalizing when you think that hispanics are the only ones who do these types of jobs (house cleaning, working the fields etc...) even if it were true at least its a job. But you know what there are plenty of hispanics who are doctors, lawyers and have high paying corporate jobs. I guess ignorance makes people look foolish.
Sorry Susan for not being so extremely correct in my spelling and statement... Susan, You're an IDIOT... got it now? You stupid ass wench
Mike Cavar is a bigot.
No...you are a bigot. And a RACIST.
Where does George state anything about being racist?? and I agree with him, People that are so closed minded about other cultures and other races are idiots and I would feel pity for you but you deserve nothing short of a good a@@ beating.
I truly remember this as if it took place yesterday. I was so shocked to think that Janet Reno would order armed federal agents in to retrieve this little boy. I had no problem with them sending him back to his father then & i still don't now. However when i think back to Waco, Ruby Ridge, and countless other incidents that have taken place since this has where the mighty U.S. govt has shown its muscle here & abroad i wonder how i could of been shocked at all. I remember praying to God to please watch over that little boy & thinking he didn't have much of a chance in his fatherland & i am so happy to see my thoughts were completely without merit. No, i don't think i was shocked after all I was just asleep.
And my cherry tree turns 14, too. SO WHAT........
Hasn't been this countries concern for a long time so why is this a news story!
Stupid little SOB should reimburse the American taxpayers.
No, the stupid fame and money grubbing Miami relatives who tried to turn him into a meal ticket should reimburse the American taxpayer. This boy was at the mercy of his mother's decision to risk his life and his extended family's decision to exploit him.
The pre dawn forced retrieval of Elian was an iconic picture. it was on the front page of every major newspaper. I think the media over blew the situation, Elian belonged with his biological father, bottom line. He probably don't remember much about those months, and i think the US should forget about it too!
I recall recently the outrage in this country when a father in NJ was fighting to get his son back from his ex-wife's family in Brazil, how long it took and how uncertain the outcome. There is no difference. The mother did not survive the trip to Florida. Elian should have been sent back to his father. The politics of the country were irrelevant unless the return would result in the persecution of the child and his family. This was hardly the case. The family in Florida was looking for their 15 minutes of fame and a big paycheck. I thought that then and I think it now. This was not the finest hour of the American judicial or political systems.
Of course he had to be returned to his father. I understand his rights have to take precedence. Lost in all this is the fact that his mother was willing to risk her life to get him out of there. Wonder if that ever crosses his little communist mind..
She was also willing to risk his young life. She should have been thinking of that too. Cuba is hardly a communist paradise to live in but its not Somalia either.
You do realize that little boy could have easily drowned with the others don't you? Instead, he is healthy and living with his father. Cuba may not be the greatest place to live, but he obviously has a loving father to take care of him and he seems happy, so what if he isn't rich living in an American McMansion near the Kardasians. America is not all a neverending trip to Disney World either (though his Miami relatives tried to make it out to be)...
How would you feel if the roles had been reversed, and it was the father who took the boy on that dangerous journey to the US and died in the process. Then the mother in Cuba wanted him back, would you deny her her son?
There is little doubt statistically (I've done the study and research repeatedly over the years) that one in twenty persons here would be able to answer more than one or two of fifty questions about Cuba, its form of government, its history, its Castros, or the like. Yet, everyone has an opinion, a biased one derived all but entirely from a news media and education system as ignorant - big surprise there - as they are.
I don't suppose any of this should be surprising, what with the latest study concerning what "American" know of their own history revealing that only twenty percent of "elite" (the study's word, not mine) college graduates can identify things like the Emancipation Proclamation, the Monroe Doctrine or - on Pearl Harbor day - the battleships Arizona and Utah.
One - and the most debilitating - thing about ignorance its that it doesn't know it's ignorant. Stupid, of course, is even worse, it's not only ignorant, it thinks it's bright.
Agree with earlier comments that it's way past time to tell the Cuban community in the US, the revolution is over, you and Batista lost! Just remember, the Cuban's who left weren't the field hands, they were the overseers who had it made until Castro came along. Four decades of cow-towing to these escape artists is enough. Had we normalized relations with Cuba, and flooded the country with American tourists, it would not have been too long before Fidel and his party would have been tossed out. Just like Eastern Europe, when those people saw that the West wasn't starving and had consumer goods, the people realized their leaders were distorting the truth and denying them freedom. Keeping Cuba isolated has only harmed the Cuban people.
Any American politician who pledges more loyalty to a special interest over the greater interests of the American public does not deserve to hold office. I'm tired of every narrow special interest trumping the majority.
Elian if much better off with his Cuban family including his father and siblings, than being held here with relatives who really didn't know the boy. Guess the "family values" party was out to lunch when this happened.
It`s like fishing...should have thrown him back.
good riddance ...that's one less illegal mouth to feed
He turned 18, so what?