For the entire semester, every time I pick up a newspaper or turn on the tube I make the same proclamation to everyone within earshot. “I’m going to get in my car, drive to stinking Florida, grab that Elian kid, drive him to D.C. and give him back to his dad myself!”

Finally, at 5 a.m. Saturday, the Immigration and Naturalization Service raided the house where Elian was staying and took him back to his dad. Thank you, INS, for saving me the gas money.

This whole thing has been a disgusting election-year charade from the get-go, and it has blown my mind from the beginning.

The fundamental question that everyone likes to ignore is why on Earth can’t the kid be with his dad, especially since his mother checked into the wooden Waldorf.

Everyone likes to talk about how emotionally scarred the kid is. What do you think not being able to see his dad does?

My second question is, when did everyone start loving immigrants all of a sudden? Most of the time, everyone complains about how unskilled laborers are magically taking all of the prime jobs. People are trying to make English the official language of Iowa, as well as many other states.

People in Florida are mad because there is a large force pushing Spanish into state business. Europeans are wary of even going to Florida since the two German tourists were set on fire.

The McDonald’s in my hometown of Eagan, Minn., one of the farthest places from Mexico in the U.S., is periodically raided by the INS and it doesn’t make the news and nobody cares.

The only reason I know about it is because I know people who were at work when the place was surrounded by brown cars and a bunch of guys wearing cheap suits and sunglasses walked in the door.

This stuff goes on all the time in Minnesota, let alone in Texas where George W. demonstrates his “leadership,” with quiet approval. Now all of a sudden people are saying that Elian deserves to be free in America.

Elian definitely has had a rough go of things, but people with far worse stories get kicked out of the United States everyday. There are a lot of people out there who are either hypocrites or completely obtuse.

Another thing that everyone likes to overlook is that the Miami relatives were more than kind of breaking the law. The Justice Department has been bending over backward to facilitate a non-traumatic reunion with his father for three months, but the relatives wouldn’t give in. The INS could have seized Elian at any time, but they did not.

Now the relatives are claiming that the photo of Elian with his father is a fake. These people take being disruptive and difficult more seriously than anyone I have ever seen. Despite all of their shenanigans, the Miami relatives have yet to be arrested or charged with anything.

My favorite aspect of this entire ordeal has been the Republican reaction.

Trent Lott, a senator from Mississippi where they invent new shapes to draw congressional districts to prevent black voters from having an impact, said “my first thought was that this could only happen in Castro’s Cuba.” Rudy Giuliani, whose New York City police force has gone on a string of shootings of unarmed black men made similar comments.

These two folks must not know very much about Cuba, because in Cuba this would have happened a long time ago. The INS shot mace into the crowd, not bullets, and showed up at a time when the least number of people would be around.

Another thing for people to think about is the 1980 Mariel boat lift, in which 125,000 Cubans came to the United States., many of whom were felons released from Cuban prisons. President Carter let them into the United States. despite it being a highly unpopular decision.

President Clinton was defeated in a 1980 Arkansas governor re-election bid, hampered by an incident involving one of these violent refugees.

In this election year Clinton doesn’t want to take any chances with Castro that may negatively impact Gore’s campaign, and I doubt that anyone wants another 125,000 immigrants showing up, especially with a large criminal contingent.

The ordeal is a long way from over with pending court cases, but at least Elian is back where he belongs — with his father.

The whole issue should have been closed in December, but the Cuban-Americans and the Republicans have abused this boy for the sake of their own political agenda. Cuba may be run by Fidel Castro, but the United States needs to respect international laws if only to maintain the integrity of our government.

This incident should have given us insight into U.S.-Cuban relations and an opportunity to reevaluate our immigration laws, but the dominant result has been a media sideshow in which all sense and law has been put aside for political gain.

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Erik Hoversten is a senior in math from Eagan, Minn.