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Democratic lawmakers accused Kevin K. McAleenan, the acting secretary of homeland security, of leading an agency with an “empathy deficit” during a hearing on Thursday that focused on the separation of migrant children from their parents and reports of poor conditions at holding facilities near the border. “What does that mean when a child is sitting in their own feces? Can’t take a shower?” said Representative Elijah E. Cummings, Democrat of Maryland, the chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee. “What’s that about? None of us would have our children in that position. They are human beings.” (Kanno-Youngs, 7/18)

A top Trump administration official said Thursday the number of family separations at the border has fallen since last summer's zero tolerance policy, and they are done only for compelling reasons. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan said fewer than 1,000 children have been separated from families out of 450,000 family groups that have crossed the border since October. He said they are separated because of health and safety concerns, among other reasons. "The vast majority" of families are kept together, he said. (7/18)

The young migrants often arrived at night. They were teenagers from Central and South America, brought by border agents to the Tornillo Detention Facility and led to rows of metal bunk beds in military tents ringed by barbed wire. Human touch, even a simple hug, was rare inside this secured temporary city, where nearly 3,000 unaccompanied minors at a time were confined between June 2018 and January 2019. In this harsh environment, the Chihuahuan Desert, imagination and faith helped them make it through. The Rev. Rafael Garcia, a Jesuit priest from South El Paso, got his first inkling of the creativity within the camp when he noticed a cross with a red Sacred Heart entwined in yarn, handmade by incarcerated youngsters. (Brown, 7/19)

Unaccompanied migrant children apprehended at the two busiest sectors along the U.S.-Mexico border are spending almost twice as long in U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody than the maximum 72 hours mandated by a court ruling. During the month of June, agents held 19,352 children in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. (Carranza, 7/18)

Sacramento Rep. Doris Matsui confirmed some of the worst accounts of the border patrol centers housing migrant men, women and children who’ve crossed over the southern border, after visiting two facilities in Texas last weekend. ...Matsui and a delegation of 19 other Democratic House members traveled to McAllen and Brownsville, Texas to visit Customs and Border Patrol processing centers as well as humanitarian organizations working with migrants seeking asylum in the United States. (Cadei, 7/18)

Images of overcrowded border facilities have prompted public outcry and congressional hearings. The acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security answered questions Thursday on the immigration crisis along the U.S.-Mexico border. Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley also recently testified at a federal oversight hearing about her visit to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) center in Texas. (Dooling, 7/18)

Inside the nation’s latest holding facility for migrant children, about 200 unaccompanied teenagers live under the care of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Carrizo Springs. Mayor Wayne Seipel said he hasn’t heard of any residents opposing the shelter. In fact, he's hopeful the facility will mean a boost for the town’s economy. But some are skeptical of the optimistic outlook for the shelter, given reports of the deteriorating conditions inside Border Patrol facilities. (Vazquez, Dehn and Wiseman, 7/18)