EliÃ¡n case spurs call for changes in INS

Supporters say agency is trying to be sensitive in enforcing law WASHINGTON - The high-profile case of a young Cuban boy has buffeted the nation's immigration service at

Thursday, April 6th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Supporters say agency is trying to be sensitive in enforcing law

WASHINGTON - The high-profile case of a young Cuban boy has buffeted the nation's immigration service at a time critics already want to reform the agency.

Delays in enforcing its own decisions about 6-year-old EliÃ¡n GonzÃ¡lez have opened the Immigration and Naturalization Service to new charges of playing politics, skeptics say.
"The message that the agency has sent is that it can be manipulated politically," said JosÃ© Pertierra, a Washington immigration lawyer.

Agency defenders, however, say the immigration service has struggled to enforce the law in a sensitive case without appearing heavy-handed.

Earlier allegations that the agency had been increasingly politicized under the Clinton administration have fueled congressional efforts to reform the service.

"What's clear is that this kind of politicization of immigration enforcement is not unprecedented," said Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that favors tighter immigration enforcement.

Now critics say the administration has moved slowly to reunite EliÃ¡n with his father in Cuba because of fears of angering politically powerful Cubans in Miami. Florida is a pivotal state in upcoming elections.

President Clinton said his administration has kept politics out of the EliÃ¡n case. Immigration officials acknowledge that the fear of civil unrest in Miami, already the scene of street protests, encouraged them to move cautiously.
Concern about the child has forced the INS to move judiciously, said agency spokeswoman Maria Cardona.

"We have from the very beginning wanted to resolve this case quickly," she said, "but also in a way that is in EliÃ¡n's best interests."

Even before the EliÃ¡n case, however, the White House offered its own plan to restructure the agency, though its approach is less radical than others proposed in Congress.

Earlier concerns

Congressional complaints have focused on a flawed program in 1996 to register immigrants as new citizens and a variety of enforcement efforts seen as either too aggressive or too lenient. The administration and congressional critics agree that fast INS budget growth in recent years calls for a more sophisticated management structure.

It's unclear what impact the EliÃ¡n case will have on the drive to rehabilitate the immigration service, many experts say. Much depends on whether the agency succeeds in returning EliÃ¡n to his father.

The immigration service deserves credit for persevering, after some initial fumbling, in trying to enforce its interpretation of the law, said David Martin, a former INS general counsel.

"You might question their strategy," he said. "But since early January, their intent has been clear and consistent."

At issue is the length of time the immigration service has waited to enforce its decision, made in early January, that EliÃ¡n should be reunited with his father. Officials at the INS and the Justice Department, of which the immigration service is a part, allowed a court challenge from Miami relatives who want to keep the child in the United States.

EliÃ¡n has lived with his great-uncle since late November, when he was found floating on an inner tube off the Florida coast. He had survived a boating accident that killed his mother and others fleeing Communist-ruled Cuba.

Reno criticized

On Wednesday, demonstrators at the Miami home of U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno carried Cuban and American flags, chanted similar slogans such as "No Castro, No Problem," and "EliÃ¡n se queda " ("EliÃ¡n is staying.") The protest reflected the animosity felt in Miami against Ms. Reno, who was a prosecutor there before moving to Washington.

Among the fliers, one depicted Ms. Reno with horns coming out of her head. Another showed her face inside a circle with a slash (like the no-smoking signs).

Emotions about the case have led to unfortunate and undeserved attacks against the government, said Raul Hernandez of the Miami office of the U.S. Catholic Conference, a group that works with immigrants.

"We don't need to demonize INS," he said.
Mr. Hernandez said he hoped the case would cast light on the plight of other minors in INS custody and detention.

But it is the agency's usual quick dispatch of other cases similar to EliÃ¡n's that has drawn criticism to the handling of his.

Other groups may decide that street protests are the way to change INS enforcement actions, said Mr. Pertierra, the immigration lawyer.

"Now immigration groups are learning all they need to do is step up their protests and the INS will shy away," he said.

Staff writer Nancy San Martin in Miami contributed to this report.