By Meg Richards, Associated Press Writer.
ATLANTA (AP) - A federal appeals court today upheld a court order keeping Elian Gonzalez in the United States, extending the long-running custody dispute over the 6-year-old boy the government wants to return to his father.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel barred anyone from attempting to remove the boy from the country, extending the injunction issued last week.
There was no immediate reaction from the Justice Department or from attorneys representing the boy's Miami relatives. The court order delayed government efforts to bring Elian to Washington to meet his father, who wants to return with him to Cuba.
The court ruling, which could be appealed, is considered a critical step in the international custody dispute that has lasted for nearly five months.
The appeals judges said they recognized the government's authority over immigration matters, but added that ``we fail to see how an injunction in the case infringes upon the congressional power.''
``And we doubt that protecting a party's day in court, when he has an appeal of arguable merit, is contrary to the public interest,'' the court said.
In Little Havana, the crowd erupted in cheers and hugs. Cuban-Americans backing the boy's Miami relatives feared that only the court order was keeping federal agents from attempting to remove Elian from the home of his great-uncle Lazaro Gonzalez.
Earlier today, Attorney General Janet Reno said taking the boy by force was an option but she was trying to avoid any violence.
Protesters have kept a ceaseless vigil at the home, and some have vowed to disrupt any removal attempt.
The temporary injunction defused a potential crisis a week ago, when the Miami relatives ignored a government deadline to hand over the boy and thousands massed in Little Havana.
At the time, the Justice Department agreed not to take action to reunite Elian with his father for a few days while reminding Lazaro Gonzalez that he had lost custody of Elian for defying the deadline.
Elian was rescued by two fishermen while clinging to an inner tube off the Florida Coast on Thanksgiving Day. He was among three people who survived, but his mother and 10 others fleeing Cuba drowned when their boat sank.
Lazaro Gonzalez was awarded temporary custody and the boy's Miami relatives have been caring for him ever since. They insist Elian will be better off living with them, and their bid for an asylum hearing is also before the appeals court, with oral arguments scheduled for May 11.
The Clinton administration, however, has pressed for the reunion of Elian with his father, saying only he can speak for the boy on immigration matters. The court order upheld Wednesday had temporarily blocked anyone from taking Elian out of the country until it decides whether to hear the asylum
claims.
The family has argued that Elian would be psychologically harmed and will face persecution if he is returned to Cuba.
The father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, flew to Washington on April 6 and has been waiting to meet his son. The government has said he is willing to wait in the United States for the asylum issue to be settled - if he has custody of Elian.
Since January, Reno and the government have repeatedly extended the deadline for Lazaro Gonzalez to surrender the boy. Last week, the nation's top law officer took the extraordinary step of flying to Miami to meet with family members.
But both sides have failed to agree on details of a reunion. The government insists that Lazaro Gonzalez - referred to by federal attorneys as ``a mere distant relative'' - surrender custody of the boy, while the family has sought a meeting with Juan Miguel Gonzalez without conditions.
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