His mother tried to cross the Florida Straights with Elian in an inner tube. Not surprisingly, she drowned, surprisingly, Elian survived and on Thanksgiving Day, 1999 he was rescued by fishermen and brought to Miami, where he was taken in by his Cuban ex-pat relatives. Then his father came over from Cuba and after a lengthy legal battle culminating in stormtrooper style raid on the abode, Elian was rescued at gunpoint and delivered from the tyrannical hands of the people who were caring for him.
With the exception of Elian himself, who had very little choice in events, everyone remotely involved in this episode in history acted in the most unintelligent way imaginable. From his dingbat mother who damn near got her own son killed to Janet Reno who ordered the Raid on Entebbe afterwards, to the Cubans back in Cuba who now hold this kid to be some kind of "hero". Let him be already.