Boys In The Media Bubble

[November 21st, 2007]

Gabriel Allred, the 2-year-old Oregon boy who is the focus of an international custody battle, has no idea why Lars Larson and Lou Dobbs are talking about him.

But the anti-illegal immigrant pundits of KXL and CNN fame have seized on Gabriel’s story anyway—to tell their own. As they see it, the United States is better than Mexico, and Gabriel should remain here with his foster parents, instead of with his grandmother south of the border, as the state has decreed.

Sound familiar? It should, because this isn’t the first time one boy’s fate has been the subject of a much larger political and ideological struggle with Latin America. In 1999, the cause célèbre was Elián González, a Cuban boy in Florida who became a lightning rod for U.S.-Cuban relations.

Like Elián, Gabriel has become a new symbol for right-wingers. To Larson, Dobbs and their fellow patriots, Gabriel’s story represents the U.S. government’s incompetence in dealing with illegal immigration. Gabriel has become their sympathetic martyr, their equivalent of the bleeding-heart liberals’ portrait of victimized undocumented immigrants.

“They’re going to deport him,” Larson told Dobbs on Nov. 13. “We don’t even do this to criminals in America.”

And like Elián, Gabriel cannot speak for himself. But legions of well-meaning adults are fighting for what they think is best for the boy. Politicians, including Gov. Ted Kulongoski on Tuesday, have stepped in to announce their positions. Everyone is hoping to win. And the only thing that’s clear is that someone’s going to lose.

The Boy Gabriel Allred, 2, Dual citizen of the United States and Mexico

The News Gabriel lives in Toledo, just east of Newport on the Oregon Coast, with foster parents Steve and Angela Brandt. He was born to a drug-abusing American mother and an undocumented immigrant father from Mexico. State social workers took Gabriel from his mother when he was 4 months old and placed him with the Brandts. In August, both of Gabriel’s biological parents lost their parental rights.

The Brandts want to adopt Gabriel, but the Oregon Department of Human Services has twice ruled that Gabriel should be placed with his grandmother, who lives in rural Mexico.

The Brandts, who have raised 10 children of their own in addition to Gabriel, filed a lawsuit in Lincoln County Circuit Court seeking to adopt Gabriel. They asked Gov. Ted Kulongoski to intervene.

The Views The Brandts and Gabriel’s grandmother both say they can offer the best home. The state decision has outraged the Brandts and their many vocal supporters who see a lack of regard for Gabriel’s inalienable rights as a U.S. citizen. Local and national news coverage has had a distinct bias in favor of the Brandts, whom Gabriel calls Mom and Dad. The Portland Tribune editorial board wrote Kulongoski should not let the state “deport” Gabriel. U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) has stepped in to ask Kulongoski to let the Brandts adopt Gabriel. The Oregonian paints a sympathetic portrait of the Brandts in their news stories. But its editorial board agrees with the state’s decision.

The Image Seen ’Round the World TV broadcasts of Gabriel’s grandmother’s home show a clean but bare environment that contrasts sharply with the middle-class American abundance at the Brandts’ home. The differences have fueled fear that Gabriel would not have a full life in a “Third World country.”

Update On Tuesday, Kulongoski gave the Department of Human Services a Dec. 3 deadline to find a solution that may involve keeping Gabriel in Oregon.

The Boy Elián González, 5 in 1999, Cuban citizen

The News Elián, his mother and about a dozen other Cuban citizens set out for Florida on a boat eight years ago this week, on Nov. 22, 1999, hoping to reach U.S. shores. A storm overturned their craft. Elián survived, but his mother didn’t. A passing boat rescued the boy.

The Views Elián’s Miami relatives, including uncles and cousins, wanted Elián to seek asylum in Florida, despite the fact the boy’s father in Cuba was pleading for his return. His U.S. relatives were strong opponents of Fidel Castro and believed the boy would have a better life in Florida.

The battle heated up the courts and the international media, and fueled the fiery speeches of politicians who sought to make a campaign issue of the boy’s fate. As far away as New York state, the battle became an issue in the U.S. Senate race between Republican Rudy Giuliani and Democrat Hillary Clinton.

There was no Portland Tribune in 1999, but there was a Lars Larson and an Oregonian editorial board. Larson said then that the U.S. should have let Elian stay in Florida. The Oregonian called the whole affair an “appalling political circus.”

The Image Seen ’Round the World Eventually, federal agents forcibly took Elián from his Miami relatives so that he could return to his father in Cuba. A crying Elián in the arms of federal agents when they raided his uncles’ Miami home on April 22, 2000, became a symbol of the U.S.’ bungling.

Update Two years ago, Elián granted an interview to 60 Minutes when he was 11. Elián described his friendship with Castro and the nightmares he had while staying in Miami. He appeared happy he had returned to Cuba, where he’s considered a national hero on the order of Che Guevara. His relatives in Miami say he’s been brainwashed.