The Washington Times
February 7, 2000
 
 
'Littlest defector' of 20 years ago understands the plight of Elian

                         By
                         ASSOCIATED PRESS
 

                              CHICAGO — Walter Polovchak knows quite a
                         bit about being torn between two countries — one
                         communist, one democratic — as relatives separated
                         by miles of ocean and political ideals battle over his
                         custody.
                              Two decades before Elian Gonzalez was found
                         clinging to an inner tube off Florida's coast, Mr.
                         Polovchak, then 12, earned the nickname "littlest
                         defector" for refusing to return with his parents to
                         Ukraine, part of the former Soviet Union.
                              Now a successful 32-year-old office manager
                         with a home in Chicago's northwest suburbs, Mr.
                         Polovchak has become a veritable spokesman for
                         American patriotism. And that love of country colors
                         his opinion about Elian's father and his battle to return
                         the boy from the United States to Cuba.
                              "He's under tremendous pressure from the
                         government to make public demands for his child,"
                         Mr. Polovchak said of Elian's father, Juan Miguel
                         Gonzalez. "I don't think he's speaking from his heart,
                         and if he is, he's pretty selfish."
                              To stress the point, Mr. Polovchak mentions his
                         own son, Alec, who is 6 — the same age as Elian.
                              "If I would be in the same situation, I would do
                         whatever it took to be with my family and my son,"
                         he said. But if he couldn't come to the United States,
                         he said, he would leave his son behind, knowing a
                         better life was in store for him.
                              Mr. Polovchak will eagerly tell you he's been
                         "living the American dream" since 1980, when he ran
                         away from his family's home in Chicago rather than
                         return with his parents to Ukraine. His decision
                         touched off a highly publicized 5 and 1/2-year
                         custody battle that ended when Mr. Polovchak
                         turned 18 and was granted U.S. citizenship.
                              In the years since, he got married, changed jobs a
                         few times and traveled the world with his family.
                         They just got back from Jamaica.
                              "I thank God every day for the choice and the
                         opportunities and the people who came into my life
                         to help me stay in this country," said Mr. Polovchak,
                         whose trace of an accent sounds more Chicago than
                         anything else.
                              There are differences, though, between the stories
                         of Walter Polovchak and Elian Gonzalez.
                              Harvey Grossman, who represented Mr.
                         Polovchak's parents in the custody case and is the
                         legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union
                         of Illinois, notes Mr. Polovchak's case came during
                         the low point of U.S.-Soviet relations.
                              "Basically, we were at the height of the Cold
                         War, the Soviet Union was the evil empire and
                         Ronald Reagan was saving a child from communism,"
                         Mr. Grossman said.
                              State and federal courts eventually agreed Mr.
                         Polovchak should not have been taken from his
                         parents, but the drawn-out process allowed him to
                         stay long enough to reach his 18th birthday — and
                         adult status.
                              Elian, meanwhile, has been ordered home by the
                         U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, a
                         decision supported by President Clinton.
                              Mr. Polovchak had been in the United States with
                         his family for six months when he and his 17-year-old
                         sister ran away to stay with a 24-year-old cousin.
                         His parents returned to Ukraine and battled to take
                         him along.
                              Mr. Polovchak eventually reconciled with his
                         parents and has returned to Ukraine three times to
                         visit, as recently as August. He would not disclose
                         where in Ukraine they were living.
                              Elian's story plays out in reverse. His mother
                         brought him on a boat from Cuba to Florida and was
                         one of 11 refugees to die in a November shipwreck.
                              Juan Miguel Gonzalez said he didn't know of his
                         ex-wife's plan to flee Cuba with Elian and argues his
                         son wants to come home but that the American
                         relatives who took him in distract him with toys or
                         trips every time he hints at that wish.
                              Mr. Polovchak said the toys, trips and
                         opportunities in general are what make it so crucial
                         for Elian to stay in the United States.
                              "Comparing myself or Elian to a typical 6- or
                         12-year-old American child is an unfair comparison,"
                         he said, adding that children here play with "G.I. Joe
                         or Barbie" while his family was standing in long lines
                         for food back in Ukraine.
                              Mr. Polovchak also isn't so sure a child's view of
                         what the United States has to offer is a bad one. He
                         once listed Jell-O and bananas as top reasons for
                         wanting to stay.
                              But what he really was expressing was a love for
                         freedom, he said. He marveled at walking into a
                         grocery store and plucking things from the aisles; he
                         was used to long lines and small rations.
                              Mr. Grossman, also father to a 6-year-old boy,
                         said those arguments are economic and discount the
                         bond between parent and child.
                              "We all know as parents that separating a child
                         from his parent is a devastating lifelong trauma," he
                         said.