Eig: Elian Being Reunited with Father 'Wishful Thinking'
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The Miami relatives of Elian Gonzalez are vowing to continue their effort to keep the 6-year-old in the U.S. Yesterday, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit aimed at keeping Elian from being returned to Cuba. The judge said that Attorney General Janet Reno has the legal authority to decide his fate. Reno says she'll consult with other Justice Department officials on how to reunite Elian with his father in Cuba. No deadlines for that have been set. Elian's Miami relatives are already appealing the judge's decision. For more on the ongoing dispute, we're joined by one of the family's lawyer. Spencer Eig is joining us live from Miami. Good morning, Mr. Eig, thanks for joining us.</s>SPENCER EIG, GONZALEZ FAMILY ATTORNEY: Good morning.</s>KAGAN: Can you explain to us what you are basing your appeal on?</s>EIG: Yes. We were very pleased with many parts of the judge's ruling. There was one narrow and technical issue of immigration law, whether a minor child like this has the right to apply for asylum, with which we differed. But an appeal is an ordinary part of our legal process here, and many of the finest decisions in our law have come from appellate courts and we look forward to having one in this case.</s>KAGAN: And that appellate court that you must go through is the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals which is based here in Atlanta. From what I have read, much of what the judge's decision was based on, are on rulings that already have come out of this court. Does that discourage you in your appeal?</s>EIG: No, actually, most of his citations from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals were in areas of the decisions in which he sided with us. We look forward to appearing in front of that court, and we hope for a good result there.</s>KAGAN: The judge also took a moment to pause in his statement, and he talked about what he calls "what is a well-intentioned lawsuit can be doing unintended harm." And he encouraged those on both sides to keep the best interests of this child in mind and reunite the child with his father. What do you have to say to the judge's comments on a well- intentioned lawsuit with unintended harm.</s>EIG: Well, we appreciate the judge's kind words. In fact, there is no evidence that Elian is undergoing any harm here in the United States. He's doing very well, he is in school. His family here is taking very good care him. He loves them, and he has himself. And he is a 6-year-old who is very smart said that he wants to stay here in the United States. This idea that he could be reunited with his father, like Attorney General Reno said, is, I'm afraid, wishful thinking. In Cuba, the history of politically prominent children is that they are segregated from their families, taken away, and minded by the government to be used for propaganda purposes. His future in Cuba is very scary, it's hardly an idyllic one, home with his father, everybody in Cuba leaving them alone to grow up normally. In fact, it's going to be the opposite. He is going to be taken away. He is going to be brain washed by the government so they can used him as a politically reliable tool. After all, how embarrassing would it be, after all this, if Elian went back to Cuba, Fidel Castro put him in some big parade, and Elian said: I wish I was back in Miami.</s>KAGAN: How much and how easy are his Miami relatives making it for him to stay in constant contact with his father back in Cuba.</s>EIG: He is constant contact with his father. The family is doing as much as they can. We have offered a regular 7:00 every evening schedule through INS and for some reason that was not acceptable to Elian's father, but the family is a family. There are difficulties,but they worked out for four months almost daily phone conversations, and I am sure those will continue. After all, Cuba is only 90 miles away. If there is irreparable harm for Elian, in being apart from his father for this period of time, why hasn't his father come and visited him? It is only 90 miles away. We have invited Juan Miguel Gonzalez -- The family has invited Juan Miguel Gonzalez here for those last four months and he hasn't come to visit. That may indicate that, in fact, he is not speaking freely in Cuba. He may wish to be here in this country, as he had stated in earlier times, but the government won't let him come.</s>KAGAN: As you pointed out, Spencer Eig, this is a difficult situation on both sides, in Cuba and both here in the U.S., and we thank you for your time and visiting with us this morning..</s>EIG: We thank you. Search CNN.com CNNSI.com CNNmoney.com The Web