November 25
1999 |  | | |
A five-year-old Cuban boy, Elian Gonzalez, is found on Thanksgiving Day
clinging to an inner tube three miles off the coast of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
Fishermen rescue him and he is taken to a hospital for treatment. But his
mother and 11 others on the raft had drowned in their attempt to come to the
U.S. from Cuba. |
|
November 26
1999 |
Elian is released from the hospital into the custody of his uncle, Lazaro
Gonzalez, and other relatives in Miami. The Cuban government sends a note to
the U.S. mission in Havana requesting Elian's return to Cuba. |
|
November 28
1999 |
Juan Miguel Gonzalez, Elian's father, files a complaint with the UN to get
attention for his custody demands. |
|
November 29
1999 |
The U.S. State Department recuses itself from considering the custody of Elian.
It is left up to the Florida courts. |
|
December 10
1999 |
Attorneys for Elian's relatives in Miami file a request for his political
asylum. |
|
January 5
2000 |
INS Commissioner Doris Meissner announces a decision that Elian's father in
Cuba is responsible for his custody, and that arrangements will be made to
return Elian to Cuba by January 14. |
|
January 7
2000 |
Elian's relatives in Miami file suit in state family court to have Lazaro
Gonzalez declared the boy's guardian. |
|
January 10
2000 |
A Circuit Court judge grants emergency custody of Elian to Lazaro Gonzalez. |
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January 12
2000 |
Attorney General Janet Reno rejects the family court jurisdiction, tells the
Gonzalez family it must file in federal court and she lifts the January 14
deadline to return Elian to his father in Cuba. |
|
January 28
2000 |
The U.S. government asks the judge to dismiss Miami relatives' federal
lawsuit. |
|
March 9
2000 |
U.S. District Judge dismisses political asylum lawsuit. |
|
March 30
2000 |
Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic candidate for President, says he
supports legislation that would allow Elian to remain in the U.S. while the
lawsuit is resolved in family court. |
|
April 3
2000 |
The U.S. State Department approves visas for Juan Miguel Gonzalez and other
close relatives to come to the U.S. |
|
April 6
2000 |
Juan Miguel Gonzalez arrives in the U.S. |
|
April 7
2000 |
After meeting with Juan Miguel Gonzalez, Attorney General Janet Reno announces
that U.S. officials will move to transfer Elian to his father. |
|
April 12
2000 |
Reno meets with Elian's relatives in Miami about the process for transferring
the boy to his father, but there's no agreement from the relatives. Over the
next several days negotiations continue between the family, Reno and
representatives on both sides. |
|
April 19
2000 |
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals grants a request by Elian's
Miami relatives to block his return to Cuba. |
|
April 22
2000 |
In a pre-dawn raid, armed U.S. federal agents seize Elian Gonzalez from the
home of his Miami relatives. Elian is reunited with his father a few hours
later. But it will take two months before Eilan and his father would go back
to Cuba--two months of court procedures and demonstrations and
counter-demonstrations in Miami. |
|
June 1
2000 |
A federal appeals court upholds the U.S. government's authority to deny Elian a
political asylum hearing. |
|
June 28
2000 |
Elian Gonzales and his father, stepmother and half brother arrive in Cuba to a
jubilant reception. Their return comes just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court
rejects a last-ditch effort by the Miami relatives to keep him in the U.S. |
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