battles waged by his father, Miami relatives, and state officials from the U.S. and Cuba. On January 10, 2000, a Florida state court had ruled that the Florida family court was able to decide the merit of motion related with temporary custody by Lázaro González, stating that Elián should stay with the Miami relatives until a further custody hearing. However, Attorney General Janet Reno declared that the federal courts are responsible for deciding this case, and that the Miami relatives must appeal to the federal court. Here, the objective of Reno was to provide the relatives with a chance to provide "any information" they could that would be "relevant in the decision". She again emphasized that the INS commissioner had declared that the father speaks for the son, and that his wishes were to have his son returned to him. Early life Elián González was born December 6, 1993, to divorced parents. Journey to Florida On November 21, 1999, González, his mother Elizabeth Brotons Rodríguez, and twelve others left Cuba on a small aluminum boat with a faulty engine; González's mother and ten others died in the crossing. González and the other two survivors floated at sea until they were rescued by two fishermen, who handed them over to the U.S. Coast Guard. González's cousin Marisleysis said that the boat's motor broke down and they tried in vain to bail out the water with nylon bags, but a storm doomed their efforts. He told her he tried to help get the water out and his mother's boyfriend placed him in an inner tube for safety. "He said afterwards that he fell asleep and that when he woke up he never saw his mother again". He said, "I think she drowned too because she didn't know how to swim". Nivaldo Fernández Ferrán, one of the three survivors on the boat, said "Elizabeth protected her son to the end". According to Fernández Ferrán, they set out on their trip at 4 am, dragging inflated rubber floats, or inner tubes, in case they needed them. As they encountered bad weather, the boat's engine failed and the craft began to fill with water. After it went under, the passengers clung to the inner tubes in cold water, with waves reaching heights of three to four meters (10 to 13 feet). Afterwards, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) released González to his paternal great-uncle, Lázaro.