Many Latinos Find Double-Standard in INS Policy
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: As national attention focuses on the plight of one 6-year-old immigrant, a much-larger case that involves hundreds of deaths remains mostly ignored, and the underlying issues largely unresolved. CNN's Jennifer Auther has that story.</s>JENNIFER AUTHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Many Latinos say the INS policy of returning illegal immigrants from countries other than Cuba is a double standard. One example: 12-year-old Veronica Quevedo made it safely to the U.S. from Guatemala in 1995. But the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service detained her. Now she faces deportation.</s>VERONICA QUEVEDO: I don't have that much attention like Elian Gonzalez.</s>AUTHER: Quevedo joined her parents in Southern California. They fled the violence in Guatemala back in 1989, leaving Veronica, then a baby, with grandparents.</s>QUEVEDO: My grandparents cannot take care of me no more, because they're always sick.</s>AUTHER: Initially, the family attorney did not seek political asylum.</s>HELEN SKLAR, QUEVEDO'S IMMIGRATION LAWYER: In light of the ruling of the 11th Circuit in the Elian Gonzalez case, my position has changed.</s>AUTHER: The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals is keeping Elian in the U.S. through mid-May while it decides whether he can apply for asylum. That leaves some Latino activists from L.A. to New York City resenting the Cuban-American lobby.</s>ANGELA SANBRANO, CENTRAL-AMERICAN RESOURCE CENTER, LOS ANGELES: We have hundreds of young children that are being deported everyday. The Elian case is an example of how the Cuban lobby basically gets away with murder.</s>JUAN FIGUERNA, PUERTO RICAN DEFENSE & EDUCATION FUND, NEW YORK CITY: The other Latino leadership will use this as a way of saying: Hey, look, you did this in this case. Well, what about my issue?</s>AUTHER: The INS declined to be interviewed for this story. (on camera): But an INS spokesman explained the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1965, passed during the cold-war era, allows Cuban exiles to apply for permanent U.S. residency, which generally is automatically granted. (voice-over): Not an option for the Quevedos. Hugo and wife Veronica Quevedo have had three boys born as U.S. citizen's, but the parents' applications for U.S. residency have been pending for years now. The family won't discuss its plans if only young Veronica is deported. Jennifer Auther, CNN, Fontana, California.