Elián González, 2000 News

6, returned to Cuba in June after the Supreme Court declined to hear an emergency appeal filed by the boy's Miami relatives, who desperately tried to keep the boy in the U.S. The event ended a seven-month-long ordeal in which Fidel Castro, the Justice Department, and Miami's Cuban community battled in and out of the courts over where Elián rightfully belonged. The Cuban-American lobby arguably suffered a tarnished image after exploiting the boy's plight for political gain. Elián was reunited in April with his father, Juan Miguel González, following a predawn raid at the home of the boy's Miami relatives.