Judge suggests U.S. may have erred in returning Cubans
By Laura Wides-Munoz
Associated Press Writer
January 13, 2006
MIAMI · A federal judge hinted Thursday that he thinks the federal government may have erred this week when it repatriated 15 Cubans who had landed on an abandoned bridge in the Florida Keys.
U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno said he would not rule immediately on the emergency lawsuit filed on the Cubans' behalf by family members and an advocacy group seeking their return, but he questioned the government's reasoning.
The government said it repatriated the Cubans because the bridge no longer connects to land. Under the government's "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy, Cubans who reach U.S. soil are generally allowed to stay while those caught at sea are returned to the communist island.
Moreno said even those who disagreed with giving Cubans special protections under U.S. immigration law would have a hard time seeing the logic of the government's decision.
"So the question is whether this bridge is U.S. territory," Moreno told Assistant U.S. Attorney Dexter Lee. "I'll follow the law, whatever it is. I guess the law is very technical, but the average person would say that's a ridiculous distinction" of whether the bridge was U.S. land.
Moreno called the abandoned bridge built by railroad magnate Henry Flagler in 1912 and converted into the centerpiece of the Florida Keys Overseas Highway in 1938 "as American as apple pie." The bridge was used for transport until 1982, when a new bridge opened.
Given the importance of the issue, which could affect thousands of potential immigrants, Moreno said he would not be rushed to judgment.
Lee said that the government would issue its response to the lawsuit by Jan. 26 and would ask the judge to dismiss the case. Even if it were ruled that the 15 Cubans could return, it is highly unlikely Cuban President Fidel Castro would permit it.
The attorneys representing the refugees, as well as the Cuban advocacy group Democracy Movement, also urged Moreno to clarify U.S. policy as to what constitutes U.S. territory under the wet-foot, dry-foot policy.
Moreno scheduled the next hearing for Feb. 15.
Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/cuba/sfl-dcubans13jan13,0,5103963.story?coll=sfla-news-cuba
By Laura Wides-Munoz
Associated Press Writer
January 13, 2006
MIAMI · A federal judge hinted Thursday that he thinks the federal government may have erred this week when it repatriated 15 Cubans who had landed on an abandoned bridge in the Florida Keys.
U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno said he would not rule immediately on the emergency lawsuit filed on the Cubans' behalf by family members and an advocacy group seeking their return, but he questioned the government's reasoning.
The government said it repatriated the Cubans because the bridge no longer connects to land. Under the government's "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy, Cubans who reach U.S. soil are generally allowed to stay while those caught at sea are returned to the communist island.
Moreno said even those who disagreed with giving Cubans special protections under U.S. immigration law would have a hard time seeing the logic of the government's decision.
"So the question is whether this bridge is U.S. territory," Moreno told Assistant U.S. Attorney Dexter Lee. "I'll follow the law, whatever it is. I guess the law is very technical, but the average person would say that's a ridiculous distinction" of whether the bridge was U.S. land.
Moreno called the abandoned bridge built by railroad magnate Henry Flagler in 1912 and converted into the centerpiece of the Florida Keys Overseas Highway in 1938 "as American as apple pie." The bridge was used for transport until 1982, when a new bridge opened.
Given the importance of the issue, which could affect thousands of potential immigrants, Moreno said he would not be rushed to judgment.
Lee said that the government would issue its response to the lawsuit by Jan. 26 and would ask the judge to dismiss the case. Even if it were ruled that the 15 Cubans could return, it is highly unlikely Cuban President Fidel Castro would permit it.
The attorneys representing the refugees, as well as the Cuban advocacy group Democracy Movement, also urged Moreno to clarify U.S. policy as to what constitutes U.S. territory under the wet-foot, dry-foot policy.
Moreno scheduled the next hearing for Feb. 15.
Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/cuba/sfl-dcubans13jan13,0,5103963.story?coll=sfla-news-cuba
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