As a young child, he was at the center of a high-profile international custody dispute between family members and involving Cuba and the United States.

His great-uncle wanted Elián to remain in the country, while his father, Juan Miguel González, sought his return to Cuba.

[4] González's cousin Marisleysis said that Elián had told her 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.

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.

Under the act, Cuban refugees without visas entering the United States were paroled, and after a year could apply for permanent resident status.

[7] Lázaro González, backed by local Cuban Americans, took the position that the boy should remain in the United States and not be returned to his father.

[citation needed] On January 21, 2000, Elián González's grandmothers, Mariela Quintana and Raquel Rodríguez, flew from Havana to the United States to seek their grandson's return to Cuba.

While they were able to meet with the boy only once at the Miami Beach home of Barry University president Sister Jeanne O'Laughlin, they journeyed to Washington and met with congressmen and Attorney General Janet Reno.

After nine days of media coverage (during which Republican lawmakers acknowledged they did not have the votes to pass a bill to give González U.S. citizenship), they returned to Cuba to "a hero's welcome".

[11] Through January and February, Juan Miguel sent a number of open letters to the U.S. government—published in, among other places, the Cuban newspaper Granma—demanding the return of his son and refusing the Miami relatives' demands.

"[20] Elián González remained a subject of media attention as he went to Walt Disney World Resort one day, then met with politicians the next.

However, a day later Reno made the decision to remove González from the house if the negotiations failed and instructed law enforcement officials to determine the best time to obtain the boy.

Reno subsequently called Lázaro González at 2:00 am asking him to hand Elián over to the United States Marshals Service with the promise that she would fly to Miami in the morning to personally negotiate.

Fifteen minutes later, President Clinton and Chief of Staff John Podesta told Reno that she could have more time to negotiate with the family, but that she could order the raid if she so chose.

[26] After being informed of the decision, Marisleysis said to a United States Department of Justice community relations officer, "You think we just have cameras in the house?

[29] In the confusion, Armando Gutierrez called in Alan Diaz, of the Associated Press, to enter the house and enter a room with González, his great uncle's wife Angela Lázaro, her niece, the niece's young son, and Donato Dalrymple (one of the two men who had rescued him from the ocean).

INS subsequently flew Elian out of Miami aboard a Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System aircraft.

[32][clarification needed] Then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani described BORTAC agents involved in the seizure of Elian as "storm troopers" at least six times.

Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association reacted with "strong disgust and dismay" to the Nazi imagery and demanded Giuliani's apology.

[34] A Time magazine issue showed a photo of a joyful González being reunited with his father (the caption says "Papa!

[40] On May 6, 2000, attorney Craig took González and Juan Miguel to a dinner in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC, hosted by Smith and Elizabeth Bagley.

Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Elián was too young to file for asylum; only his father could speak for him, and the relatives lacked legal standing.

[55]: 138–139  Acting on the popular sentiment, Fidel Castro launched a campaign called the Battle of Ideas, which centered on a series of educational initiatives designed to advance socialist ideals including the revolutionary New Man.

[59] Morrison's TV report also showed an 18th-century building in Cárdenas which was previously used as a fire station and which was renovated and inaugurated on July 14, 2001, as a museum, called Museo de la Batalla de Ideas ("Museum of the Battle of Ideas"), which includes an exhibition room dedicated to González, which houses a life-size bronze statue of González raising a clenched fist.

[60] Juan Miguel is also a member of the National Assembly of People's Power and has attended events for the Communist Party of Cuba with González, who has been called up to the stage to meet Fidel Castro.

[62] On August 16, 2006, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of an excessive force lawsuit brought by Dalrymple and others against the federal government and Reno.

[29] González joined the Young Communist Union of Cuba in June 2008 shortly after graduating from junior high school.

[65] In the 2010s, González studied to be an industrial engineer, and hoped to marry his high school girlfriend and fiancée after finishing college.

[66] After graduating in 2016, González began working as a technology specialist at a state-run company that makes large plastic water tanks.

"[70] In 2015, González was elected to lead his local Committee for the Defense of the Revolution, prompting speculation that he was preparing for a political career.