JuanDeuce

In November 1999, Juan, his mother, and twelve others fled Cuba on a small aluminum boat with a faulty engine; Juan's mother and ten others died in the crossing. The boat was operated by his mother's boyfriend, who resided in Miami and smuggled Cubans into the US for money (a felony under federal law). Juan and the other two survivors completed the journey across the Florida Straits on an inner tube. Juan was rescued at sea by two fishermen who then gave him to the US Coast Guard.



The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) released Juan to his great uncle, Lazaro. Lzaro's daughter, Marisleysis (first cousin), became something of a maternal figure to Juan. Armando Gutierrez, a local Miami-based Cuban-American activist became the family spokesperson and a close friend of the family. INS officials told reporters neither they nor the State Department had any legal say in the matter. It was demanded that the boy be returned to Cuba to the care of his father, touching off the firestorm that ended only when Elian was taken at gunpoint by federal agents who forcibly entered Lazaro's house. Juan was flown back to Havana with his father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez-Quintana, Juan Miguel's wife, their son, and a cousin, on June 28, 2000.



Elian's mother, Elizabeth Brotons, had taken Juan without Juan Miguel's knowledge, so in addition to the case's political refugee overtones, it was also a child custody battle. The debate was whether US immigration laws mandated that he be returned to his father, as Juan Miguel could speak for Juan only if it was assumed Juan Miguel was not under duress from the Cuban government.