WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A key ruling expected at any time could be the signal
                  for authorities to finally reunite Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez with his father, Justice
                  Department officials have told CNN.

                  Unless an impending federal appeals court ruling bans U.S. immigration
                  authorities from forcibly removing Elian from the home of his great-uncle,
                  Justice Department officials are planning to take enforcement action, sources
                  said

                  "We will wait for the court to rule, and then we will move," Immigration and
                  Naturalization Service spokeswoman Maria Cardona said.

                  Once in INS custody, the 6-year-old who was rescued at sea nearly five months
                  ago would be reunited with his father.

                  The court's decision could come at any time and would determine whether Elian
                  must remain in the United States during legal appeals by his Miami relatives.

                  At the request of the Miami relatives, a judge from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of
                  Appeals in Atlanta issued a temporary injunction last week that blocked Elian's father,
                  or anyone else, from taking the child out of the country.

                  Government deadline ignored

                  The federal government responded by asking the full court -- a three-judge panel
                  -- to overturn the injunction. The Justice Department also seeks to have the appeals
                  court order Elian's great-uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez, to turn over the boy.

                  If the court chooses not to address the Justice Department request for a court
                  order, Justice officials believe they still would have authority to take enforcement
                  action.

                  But their hope is that the court will issue the order, intensifying the pressure
                  on the  great-uncle because he could be held in contempt of court should he
                  refuse to comply.

                  A government-set handover deadline last week was ignored.

                  Responding to government charges that Lazaro Gonzalez was no longer lawfully
                  holding Elian, the Miami family said in a statement Monday there had been no
                  legal requirement to deliver Elian into government hands last Thursday.

                  "We reiterate that Lazaro will not disobey the law," the statement said, referring
                  to the family's contention it will not block the way if federal agents come to get
                  Elian.

                  But Cardona, the INS spokeswoman, disputed the claim that Lazaro Gonzalez
                  had broken no law.

                  "When he took the responsibility to care for Elian temporarily ... he also took on
                  the responsibility to abide by any INS instructions that were given to him about
                  the parole of the child," she said.

                  Doctor: Elian in 'state of imminent danger'

                  The pediatrician who has been advising U.S. officials on the bitter custody battle
                  Monday urged the boy be removed from the home of his Miami relatives because
                  he was being "horrendously exploited" there.

                  "Elian Gonzalez is now in a state of imminent danger to his physical and
                  emotional well-being in a home that I consider to be psychologically abusive,"
                  Dr. Irwin Redlener wrote in the letter, which was released by the INS.

                  The prominent New York pediatrician, who also heads the Children's Health
                  Fund, took particular issue with a home video that the relatives released to the
                  media, in which the boy tells his father he does not want to return to Cuba, and
                  with recent allegations by the family of abuse by the father.

                  Redlener said the tape showed the boy "expressing anger and other most unusual
                  behaviors on what appeared to be a coached, homemade recording."

                  The doctor wrote, "I believe there is no justification whatsoever to wait any
                  longer in carrying out these actions that I believe are legally appropriate and,
                  more important, clearly in the best interest of this child who continues to be
                  horrendously exploited in this bizarre and destructive ambiance. It has gone on
                  far too long."

                  The doctor helped the INS choose the team of mental health experts who met
                  last week with both Elian's father and his great-uncle.

                  Reunion resistance

                 A Justice Department victory in the appeals court in Atlanta could set the stage
                 for Elian's reunion in Washington with his waiting father, who wants to return to
                 Cuba.

                  Juan Miguel Gonzalez, who has been living in the Bethesda, Maryland, home
                  of a top Cuban diplomat since April 6, has said he will wait out appeals by the
                  Miami relatives seeking political asylum for Elian -- but only if he has custody
                  of his son.

                  A hearing on the asylum request is set for May 11 in the same appeals court.

                  The relatives want the court to let them meet with Elian's father without being
                  required to surrender the boy.

                  Even if the appeals court grants the government's requests, the Miami relatives
                  insist they will never take Elian out of their home in Miami's Little Havana
                  neighborhood. At the same time, though, they also say they won't resist if
                  federal officers come for him.

                  That sets up the possibility of a confrontation with Cuban-American protesters
                  who vow to form a human chain to protect Elian.

                  Some of the demonstrators say they will not give up Elian without a fight.

                  "There's going to be a big Waco here. We're not going to let that child be
                  dragged out of that house. It's a disgrace what's going on here," said Doris
                  Socorro, in a voice cracking with emotion.

                  She was referring to the April 19, 1993, FBI raid at the Branch Davidian
                  compound in Waco, Texas. About 80 people died when the compound caught
                  fire.

                  Elian's U.S. relatives have cared for him since late November, when he was
                  found clinging to an inner tube off the Florida coast. His mother and 10 other
                  people fleeing Cuba drowned when their boat sank. Elian was one of three
                  survivors.

                  The Clinton administration has pushed for the boy's return to his father, ruling
                  only he can speak for his son on immigration matters. The boy's Miami relatives
                  say he will have a better life in the United States and have attempted to portray
                  Juan Gonzalez as a pawn of Cuban President Fidel Castro.

                  Bay of Pigs anniversary

                  Government action to get Elian could be particularly controversial if it happens
                  Wednesday, the 39th anniversary of the end of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of
                  Cuba.

                  In 1961, when the exiles tried to overthrow the communist Castro government,
                  Cuban forces easily repelled the invasion at the Bay of Pigs -- a swampy,
                  mosquito-ridden inlet on the island's southern coast.

                  Two hundred rebels were killed, and almost 1,200 were captured.

                     Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas, Havana Bureau Chief Lucia Newman,
                  Correspondent Susan Candiotti and The Associated Press contributed to this report.