From staff and wire reports.

                  MIAMI (CNN) -- A federal judge is weighing his decision after hearing
                  arguments from government lawyers and attorneys in the suit brought by
                  Elian's Miami relatives seeking to force an asylum hearing for the 6-year-old
                  shipwreck survivor.

                  Meanwhile, dozens of flag-waving and chanting protesters gathered Thursday
                  outside the courthouse to demand that Elian remain in the United States. The
                  boy's Miami relatives want to overturn an order by the Immigration and
                  Naturalization Service that he be returned to Cuba.

                  Judge Michael Moore called a recess after the three-hour hearing without
                  rendering a decision or announcing when he would make his ruling on the
                  boy's fate.

                  The arguments covered several key issues:

                  • Does the court itself have jurisdiction over the case?

                  • Should it order the INS to grant the boy a political asylum hearing?

                  • Does Elian's father in Cuba have the final say?

                  Boy's fate argued in his absence

                  Elian did not attend the hearing. He spent the day at school.

                  His fate has been uncertain since he was found in November floating on an
                  inner tube off the coast of Florida. Elian's mother, who was divorced from
                  the boy's father, died along with 10 other Cubans when their boat capsized
                  during an attempt to immigrate to the United States.

                  In Cuba, President Fidel Castro has organized huge demonstrations to back
                  his case that the boy has been "kidnapped" by what he calls the Miami
                  "Mafia" and should be sent home.

                  Members of Elian's extended family in Miami say the boy's mother died
                  trying to give her son a life in the United States.

                  The U.S. government's position is that the court should uphold the INS
                  decision that Elian be returned to his father.

                  "That decision, which was ratified by the attorney general, gives effect to a
                  long-standing policy of family unification and the internationally accepted
                  doctrine that parents have the right to speak for their children," Deputy
                  Assistant Attorney General Patricia Maher argued in the courtroom.

                  But lawyers for Elian's relatives in Miami argued the boy was illegally
                  deprived of his right to a political asylum hearing.

                  They said that according to the INS's own policies, immigrant children can file
                  for asylum without parental permission.

                  "Elian Gonzalez, regardless of the fact that he is 6-years-old, has a right to file
                  a petition for asylum," said Gonzalez family attorney Barbara Lagoa. "A minor
                  can speak for themselves, and they can see that there are no age-based
                  restrictions when applying for asylum."

                  The government claimed Elian is too young to make those decisions.

                  During the hearing, the judge asked the government why it didn't just hold an
                  asylum hearing a long time ago, so it could send Elian back to Cuba.

                  The attorney for the government replied it couldn't do that, because in its
                  view the boy's father has the ultimate say, and he didn't want an asylum
                  hearing.

                  The judge also indicated that Elian's great-uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez -- who has
                  temporary custody -- might be able to force a political asylum hearing but still
                  not have more legal clout than the father.

                  Quick resolution not expected

                  Meanwhile, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, Elian's father, has retained the services of
                  attorney Greg Craig, who defended President Clinton during the Monica
                  Lewinsky scandal. Craig said unidentified Americans are footing his bill.

                  At the White House, President Clinton weighed in on the hearing.

                  "I can't believe it's in the young man's interest for this to be dragged out much
                  longer," said Clinton.

                  But a final decision about Elian's fate may not come with this judge's decision.
                  There could be even more court hearings, and all parties have the right to
                  appeal.

                                  Correspondents Mark Potter and Susan Candiotti
                                     and Reuters contributed to this report.