* Catch and Release,” started in the 1990s. It allows migrants who apply for asylum at the border, lack a criminal record, show a credible fear of persecution and do not have priority for deportation can wait in freedom for their applications to be decided.

* The Flores Settlement Agreement of 1977. Minors cannot be held for more than 72 hours by CBP and not more than 20 days by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. They must be handed over to relatives or caretakers, to await the final ruling on their cases in freedom.

* Asylum, a legal protection authorized by Congress in 1980.

* The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008. It bars the government from detaining minors in federal jails and other installations and orders it to protect them, respect their rights and allow them access to legal defense.

* Alternatives to detentions. Those who are not on the list of priority deportations have the right to ask for release with bonds or electronic ankle shackles while their deportation cases are pending.