The Gonzálezes say the raid taking the boy from their home violated their civil rights.

 BY ANA ACLE

 The Miami relatives of Elián González filed a lawsuit Thursday in federal court
 against U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno and other government officials,
 claiming the armed raid that removed the 6-year-old boy from their home violated
 their civil rights.

 Lázaro, his wife, Angela, and daughter Marisleysis González said the government
 conspired to violate the family's right to assemble, to be free from an
 unreasonable search and seizure, and to be free from the use of unnecessary and
 excessive force by the government without due process of law.

 ``The last time I saw anything like that was in films of postwar Germany where the
 Nazis were just doing whatever they wanted to and invading people's homes even
 without cause,'' said the family's lawyer, Ron Guralnick.

 Both the Justice Department and the Immigration and Naturalization Service
 defended their actions.

 ``Unfortunately, the González family's refusal to comply with a lawful federal order
 and their statements that they would never give up the child except by force
 compelled us to take enforcement actions,'' Justice Department spokeswoman
 Carole Florman said.

 ``We still believe our actions were appropriate and lawful.''

 The González family took in Elián in November, after the boy survived a sea
 voyage from Cuba that killed his mother and 10 other people. They sought
 custody of the boy. His father, back in Cuba, demanded the boy's return.

 WARRANTS QUESTIONED

 The crux of the suit rests on the information the government used to obtain an
 administrative arrest warrant for Elián and a search warrant of the González
 home. The family claims that Reno, Immigration and Naturalization Service
 Commissioner Doris Meissner and her deputy Eric Holder knew the warrants were
 issued on false information.

 The lawsuit also claims the predawn raid on April 22 violated an 11th Circuit Court
 of Appeals ruling prohibiting any party -- including the government -- from taking
 Elián back to Cuba.

 ``They used that illegal arrest warrant for substantiation for what now becomes an
 illegal search warrant,'' said Guralnick, who successfully represented Eula
 McDuffie in the civil suit filed in the death of her son, insurance agent Arthur
 McDuffie. His co-counsel is Frank Quintero.

 The family also is suing for damages, including mental distress, physical injury
 and property damages. They've also made a claim for punitive damages.

 Guralnick would not give a dollar figure: ``A jury will have to determine, since we
 all have the same constitutional rights, what they believe the value of their
 constitutional rights.''

 Some law experts said that they believe the raid may have been unconstitutional,
 but the family's attorneys will have a hard time proving that U.S. officials knew the
 warrants were based on false information.

 ``Although I believed and continue to believe that the correct interpretation of the
 Constitution would have prevented the use of the raid to find and seize Elián, I've
 always believed it was a difficult and close question,'' said Laurence Tribe,
 professor of constitutional law at Harvard University, who has not read the
 complaint.

 HISTORY OF SUPPORT

 Said John de Leon, president of the Greater Miami chapter of the American Civil
 Liberties Union, who read the complaint: ``The ACLU has historically supported
 the rights of individuals who feel they have been aggrieved by the government to
 access the courts for redress, and that's what is occuring here.''

 A similar lawsuit seeking $100 million in damages was filed in May by rescuer
 Donato Dalrymple, who claims his rights were violated during the raid. Fifty-three
 people have since joined Dalrymple as plaintiffs. They are being represented by
 Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog organization in Washington D.C.

 ``We're happy to have Lázaro and company join the quest,'' said Larry Klayman,
 chairman and general counsel for the group, who said they are moving forward
 after a judge denied a motion by government attorneys to stop discovery.

 In addition to naming Reno and Meissner, the González suit lists as defendants,
 former Miami Police Chief William O'Brien, who could not be reached for
 comment; former Assistant Chief John Brooks, now a captain in the Broward
 Sheriff's Office, who did not return a phone call; and every single agent involved in
 the investigation, named and unnamed, including Betty A. Mills who carried Elián
 out of the house.

 They hope to obtain those names through discovery.