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STATEMENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND

"We are very disappointed that, after several days of meetings, the Miami relatives of Elian Gonzalez continue to refuse to return Elian to his father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez.

"Officials from the Department of Justice and the Immigration and Naturalization Service had extended their discussions with the relatives' attorneys and deferred revocation of Elian's parole status for a week in an effort to reach a cooperative solution.

"Recognizing how much Lazaro Gonzalez and his family care for this child, we had hoped that the relatives would understand the importance of reuniting Elian and his father, with as little continued disruption.

"Unfortunately, the extended discussions did not result in assurances from the relatives that they would voluntarily transfer custody of Elian. These standard assurances are required by federal law as a condition of parole. Instead, the attorneys continued to revisit the issue of whether Elian should be reunited with his father, as opposed to discussing how best to reunite them.

"In January, the INS ruled, and the Attorney General affirmed, that the father speaks for the son. For the past four months, Juan Miguel Gonzalez has made it very clear that he wants to be reunited with his six year old son. Last month, a federal court sustained the decision of the Commissioner of the INS and the Attorney General. At any point along the way, the INS and the Department of Justice could have implemented the ruling immediately, but instead we went to extraordinary lengths to try to resolve this matter in a cooperative manner.

"We will soon provide the relatives in Miami with a letter setting forth the process for reuniting Elian with his father, who arrived in the United States earlier this morning. We still hope for an orderly process for reuniting Elian with his father."

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