ABSTRACT
"God brought him to people for the hope of Cuba" opines a young man by the name of Jimmy Farfan outside the residence at which Elian Gonzalez is living. Whether it is God, the infant Moses, or the baby Jesus, or none of the above, it is evident that an event tantamount to a national crisis is playing out in Miami. Whether Elian Gonzalez should remain in the United States or be returned to Cuba, whether he has been liberated or captured, whether his situation is a personal trauma or a political trial, has roiled Cuban-American relations to a fevered pitch hardly imaginable even three months ago. To deal in such rhetoric is to invite federal intervention into the affairs of a small community. The interview with David Abraham, professor of immigration law at the University of Miami, does just that. The use of a child as a political pawn is a grave personal catastrophe.
