Elian Gonzalez Says Time In The U.S. “Marked” Him For Life

On the 14th anniversary of his rescue, Elian Gonzalez reveals that he isn’t thrilled about his time spent in the United States.
According to Fox News Latino, the former Cuban refugee — who, more than a decade ago, was  the focal point of the the immigration debate at seven years old  – said that his time in the United States “marked” him for life.
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“They were very sad times for me, which marked me for my whole life. I was never given the chance to have a moment to think about my mother, who as a result of that (U.S.) Cuban Adjustment Act died at sea,” the now-19-year-old Gonzalez said recently during a Union of Young Communists event. “I suffered the consequences of that law. They also violated my basic rights gathered in the (U.N.) Convention on the Rights of the Child: the right to be together with my father, the right to keep my nationality and to remain in my cultural context.”
Elian’s statements provoke an interesting thought: is there really a difference between immigration and assimilation? Are the two inextricably tied together? Weigh in below in the comments.