the Federal Government, a US Senator should be given access to the facility.

The facility itself may not be federally owned, but those children are in the custody of our government.

already been written for access.

there eventually and they'll have time to get it cleaned up and have a couple of kids "camera ready".

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theresienstadt_concentration_camp

Late in the war, after D-Day and the invasion of Normandy, the Nazis permitted representatives from the Danish Red Cross and the International Red Cross to visit Theresienstadt in order to dispel rumours about the extermination camps. The commission that visited on June 23, 1944, included E. Juel-Henningsen, the head physician at the Danish Ministry of Health, and Franz Hvass, the top civil servant at the Danish Foreign Ministry. Dr. Paul Eppstein was instructed by the SS to appear in the role of the mayor of Theresienstadt.[47]

Weeks of preparation preceded the visit. The area was cleaned up, and the Nazis deported many Jews to Auschwitz to minimise the appearance of overcrowding in Theresienstadt. Also deported in these actions were most of the Czechoslovak workers assigned to "Operation Embellishment". The Nazis directed the building of fake shops and cafés to imply that the Jews lived in relative comfort.

The Danes whom the Red Cross visited lived in freshly painted rooms, not more than three in a room. Rooms viewed may have included the homes of the "prominent" Jews of Theresienstadt, who were afforded the special privilege of having as few as two occupants to a room.[15] The guests attended a performance of a children's opera, Brundibár, which was written by inmate Hans Krása.

The Red Cross representatives were conducted on a tour following a predetermined path designated by a red line on a map. The representatives apparently did not attempt to divert from the tour route on which they were led by the Germans, who posed questions to the Jewish residents along the way. If the representatives asked residents questions directly, they were ignored, in accordance with the Germans' instructions to the residents prior to the tour. Despite this, the Red Cross apparently formed a positive impression of the town.[15]

Following the successful use of Theresienstadt as a supposed model internment camp during the Red Cross visit, the Nazis decided to make a propaganda film there. It was directed by Jewish prisoner Kurt Gerron, an experienced director and actor; he had appeared with Marlene Dietrich in The Blue Angel. Shooting took eleven days, starting September 1, 1944.[48] After the film was completed, the director and most of the cast were deported to Auschwitz. Gerron was murdered by gas chamber on 28 October 1944.[49]

The film was intended to show how well the Jews were living under the purportedly benevolent protection of the Third Reich. If taken at face value, it documents the Jews of Theresienstadt living a relatively comfortable existence within a thriving cultural centre and functioning successfully during the hardships of World War II. They had to comply and perform according to Nazi orders. Often called The Führer Gives a Village to the Jews, the correct name of the film is Theresienstadt. Ein Dokumentarfilm aus dem jüdischen Siedlungsgebiet ("Terezin: A Documentary Film of the Jewish Resettlement&quot .[a] As the film was not completed until near the end of the war, it was never distributed as intended, although a few screenings were held. Most of the film was destroyed, but some footage has survived.[citation needed]

What law would the Senator approach the court with saying that they must issue an order allowing him access.

“I’m a Senator I can do anything” won’t work.

I work for a government contractor and if a US Sentor showed up and was demanding access with cameras in tow there is a 99.9% chance they would ask them to leave also.

If they called and asked for access it would have to be worked out like any other VIP tour, and would be when it could be done and now when they insisted.

There is no clause in a contract that gives unfettered access to elected officials, as much as they may like there to be.

I get what he is doing to raise awareness, but he knew very well when he showed up he wouldn’t get access and legally he didn’t have any grounds to demand it. But showing up with cameras in town did get the attention he wanted for the issue.

if you do call them too.

Government function as so many others. Like they want to do to the post office and schools

So, this is still technically a federal facility, regardless of who is running it. In a normal world, that contractor would have had its contract revoked for their actions against Sen. Merkley. But, as we all know, this is not normal.

It’s a non-profit agency running it, not a private company. I know the media has been misrepresenting this so I’ll give you a pass for not fact checking that.

Being a government contractor, private company or a non-profit, does not turn your premises into a federal facility “technically”. There is no such regulation or law. Your making shit up there.

An elected official, Sentor or anyone else, doesn’t get unfettered access to all facilities, be they actual government facilities or those of a contractor. I work for a government contractor and if a Senator shows up at our facility unannounced they are not getting in either. If a Senator drives up to a controlled area on a military base they won’t be allowed in either.

There is no provision in a government contract to terminate it for not allowing a Senator access. In fact contracts usually say the opposite and place restrictions on who may have access and when. That is true in this case where the Office of Refugee Resettlement requires all visitors to be cleared by them. The contractor can’t grant access without ORR clearing it even if they wanted to. That is actually in the contract, as per the statement made by the nonprofit running this facility. So your statement that a contract would lose a contract for this is actually 180 degrees off. A contractor will lose a contract for violation of the contract- and letting anyone, even a Senator, in against the terms of the contract would be a violation. And these contracts way predate the Trump Administration it’s not his rules here.

Please, please be responsible enough to do a few minutes of fact checking before posting absolute nonsense that isn’t grounded in reality. It just makes us look bad.

that meets the description, "children locked in cages"?

I would not be surprised, but the only pictures and descriptions I've seen that meet the description "cages," predate Trump.

With Chris Hayes, talked about seeing adults with children in cages and children without adults in the cages in the 2 facilities he saw. The facility he was turned away from holds 1000 children.

I did a quick search and didn't find anything more recent than 2014 that talked about the conditions in the facilities.

day one. If I seize your child it is kidnapping.

... not "private enterprise".

Has anyone seen one?

This whole thing is sick, and ICE needs to be seriously reined in. Not only that, but these detention centers should NEVER be privatized.

Reed and Whitehouse. This is just sickening.

I get updates from the American Immigration Council. They have a section where they provide info on abuses....

http://immigrationimpact.com/category/enforcement/abuses/

this is making me feel very uneasy, putting children in cages???? That's what Senator Merkeley said on Chris Hayes.

We are losing our souls and decency.

If the children were Jewish?

We have become Nazis. They also separated children. We do not know if we have an American Josef Mengele behind those doors

So much for a free and open society.

should have allowed the senator in.

what you are saying seems EXACTLY CORRECT.

I work for a government contractor and if a US Sentor showed up and was demanding access with cameras in tow there is a 99.9% chance they would ask them to leave also.

If they called and asked for access it would have to be worked out like any other VIP tour, and would be when it could be done and not when they insisted.

There is no clause in a contract that gives unfettered access to elected officials, as much as they may like there to be.

I get what he is doing to raise awareness, but he knew very well when he showed up he wouldn’t get access and legally he didn’t have any grounds to demand it. But showing up with cameras in town did get the attention he wanted for the issue.

in my name....we need to fight for these kids and I don't give a damn about government contractors which my Dad was at times in my childhood...so I understand how it works...but the Criminal enterprise of Trump needs to be taken down. All involved need to face Crimes against humanity at the Hague...that would include the foot soldiers in those facilities.

http://www.swkey.org/programs/shelters/

All the way through the Obama Administration who saw no issue with the same people running the same facilities.

Please take a few moments to fact check before rushing to outrage.

involved...seen plenty of abuses in non-profits. All involved need to be tried for crimes against humanity.

these are children being torn from their parents where is the outrage??? WTF!!

I want to see actions, as in court ordered warrants AND constant video surveillance to make sure nothing is removed to undisclosed locations.

in that Walmart building were blackened, that's inhumane. What are doing to those children and babies starving them????

And after seeing her report, I am even more incensed.

are these crimes against humanity or what?

And why isn't our own justice department sending agents to liberate these captive children??

When's our turn? When will these jackbooted jackasses try to lock us up too (if we don't stop them now)?

detained children to a private company - the same type of business arrangement that is currently used by the for-profit prisons... I'd like to know how much we, the government, are being charged per week for each child detained.

Undocumented immigrants, and these children, have become a revenue source in America now... Which of Trump's friends is a big player in the for-profit prison industry, I wonder...

http://www.swkey.org/news/senator_merkley/

Look around their website.

It actually looks to me like people who have been helping immigrat children for
More than 20 years.

A little fact checking before jumping to outrage goes a long way.

In the first place. Did you expect to be believed based on your word alone? Don't get your feelings hurt by being challenged...

Also, one of the reasons people come to forums is to share and exchange info and ideas... I'm glad you were able to cite some sources. I might even check them out!

Have a nice evening...

http://www.swkey.org/programs/shelters/

We insisted the Germans allow us to view concentration camps ...hence Theresienstadt. I am a bit shocked at some of the positions you have taken lately I must say.

The reports of cages were holding cells at the Border Patrol Station, not these facilities.

Making blatantly false and exaggerated claims like this is how we lose credibility on issues.

US Senator not being allowed in to see what is going on in there. How can that be defended???

The non-profit running these places has been caring for refugee children for 20+ years.

The contract with Office of Refugee Resettlement requires that all visitors be cleared and scheduled by ORR. All. There is no exemption for a Senator. And those contracts predate the Trump Administration.

They control all visitors for the privacy of the minor children. I don’t know if you have ever dealt with legal issues around minors, custody and privacy but it’s serious shit with complicated laws.

Some people seem to thing being an elected official is an all access pass to go anywhere, ignore rules and demand anything. The real world isn’t like that.

this morning. What you are saying may be true, but I adamantly contend that transparency is required here.

Merkley Communications Director Ray Zaccaro shot back at the White House and insisted on more transparency.

“The White House is smearing Senator Merkley because they can’t defend their indefensible policy of snatching children from their parents," Zaccaro said. "Senator Merkley and his staff saw children in cages yesterday at the DHS processing center. We still have no idea what’s happening in the detention center where reportedly up to a thousand children are being held, since they refused the Senator’s request to go inside."

darkened windows...that is a cage in my opinion. I want it to stop.

I had to do more research.

The facility he was turned away from is one run by a nonprofit NGO that contracts with the government to care for refugee minors while their cases are handled. It looks like they have been doing this for more than 10 years.

The reference to “cages” was not about that facility or another one like it, but from the Senators visit to the Brownsville Border Patrol center, where they have holding cells that everyone who is detained coming across the border gets held in until they process them.

There is no actual report that any private entity or nonprofit had anyone in cafes.

Forget cages, I'm bothered about the idea of 1,000 children being held inside a windowless building away from their parents for who knows how long. What are they sleeping on? What are the dining facilities? What is their diet? Do they get regular medical care? Schooling? How many staff members are assigned to how many children? Are there babies and toddlers there? This shouldn't be a secret. If they are too ashamed or afraid to show us the conditions the kids are living in, it shouldn't exist. How do we get in????

http://www.swkey.org/news/senator_merkley/

It looks like they not only have to meet the standards of the Federal government for the Office of Refugee Resettlement but that they are also inspected by the state and held to the same standards as any other facility caring for children.

So it looks like there is oversight and there are people looking and making sure they are cared for on the Federal, State and Local level.

Just because they won’t let you in doesn’t mean the don’t have people doing the oversight.

suspicious. There is oversight and then there is "oversight." If they are not ashamed of what is there, they should not only allow Merkley in, they should allow him to photograph the interior so taxpayers can see what is being done on their behalf. I just emailed my senator asking her to introduce legislation that would make it mandatory that any U.S. official can have access to the holding facilities and without notice. We don't need staged inspections.

Nor should they.

His goals were noble. What if Rand Paul decided he was also going to visit and use footage from his visit to attack the children as drains on taxpayers and selectively edit hours of footage for a few moments when some were acting out (as scared children under stress will) to portray them as violent or dangerous?

There are good reasons for limiting acces, even for Senators. Our guys wouldn’t misuse access but the GOP would.

be preyed upon or neglected or abused in a top secret facility. It's like a black site for kids.

The facilities are inspected by both Federal workers from the Office of Refugee Resettlement and State and local child welfare offices regularly. Has there been any sign anyone has seen children “rotting”?

Of course there is no evidence of rotting because everything is locked up behind closed doors. As for state and local welfare offices keeping tabs on things, stories of kids dying while in their custody are not uncommon. Most state offices are overworked, especially in light of the kids in trouble because of the opioid crisis. If they won't let a U.S. Senator in, they're hiding something. Is there a space where they can go outdoors and get a little exercise and sunshine? Who knows? Are they being fed anything other than peanut butter and jelly? Who knows? Do they sleep on the floor with space blankets? Who knows? It's bad enough we're separating parents and children without leaving little ones to fate. Maybe they'll have a responsible caretaker, maybe they won't. I don't want to learn after the fact the places were pedophile paradises.

Read here:

http://www.swkey.org/programs/shelters/

Do you have information that says that what they say about oversight is untrue?

oversight...and it has to stop.

First, the Senotor never claimed he saw children in cages at one of these facilities. He was referring to holding cells at the Border Patrol Station.

Second, the “private entity” is actually a nonprofit aid agency that has been caring for unaccompanied refugee and immigrant minors for more than 20 years.

If you look at their website it look like they are an agency that has done a lot of good work.

Here is their statement on his visit and why he wasn’t allowed in- they are not allowed to let any visitors in unless the Office of Refugee Resettlement authorizes it: http://www.swkey.org/news/senator_merkley/

So- it’s a long established non-profit aid agency, not a for profit company. They have been doing this same work for over 20 years.Kids are not in “cages”, that was a reference to holding cells at the Border Patrol station,

That people have jumped to “private company holding kids in cages” shows how much the media is manipulating this issue for sensationalism and how little some people bother to do even a little fact checking in their own before running with stuff.

We are better than this folks- take 5 minutes to fact check a little before running with outlandish claims like “private companies keeping kids in cages” and then jumping right to Holocaust references.

I trust no one in this instance.

The non-profit running these has been doing it for 20+ years and there is a load of information on them out there.

The State of Texas has all the inspections and records available, many online, where you can see the results of inspections dating back to 2016 and earlier and see why faults were found and how/when they were fixed.

You are saying you don’t know but have you even looked? It took me justa. Few minutes to find loads of data and make an informed judgement instead of jumping on a media bandwagon.

oversight at the state level from experience. Thus I want federal oversight and transparency. Kids locked up in old Walmart building with insufficient caregivers who are not even federal workers is a bad idea...and I want no part of it.

Dr. Sanchez makes over $700,000 a year. His CFO makes over $ 500,000...makes you go hmmm....and the Senator is the one who reported the kids in cages...Ok...you think he is lying?

"Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) said that he saw undocumented children in cages sleeping on thin space blankets on a concrete floor at a border processing facility. He was then barred from entering another immigrant detention center, he told CNN Monday in an interview.

“They have big cages made out of fencing and wire and nets stretched across the top of them so people can’t climb out,” Merkley told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota of the McAllen border patrol station in Texas he toured on Sunday. “It’s just a concrete floor and people are being given these space blankets to sleep on. A space blanket is…the equivalent of foil. So obviously a very uncomfortable situation to be in.”

Merkley added that when he inquired about the draconian living conditions, he was given “generic” answers: “this is what’s required for security, this is what’s required for control.”

So kids sleeping on concrete within cages...you keep defending this?

http://www.newsweek.com/ceo-non-profit-shelter-called-police-senator-trying-visit-detained-children-956802

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/merkley-sees-migrant-kids-kept-in-cages-barred-from-border-facility

I’ve explained this before and people don’t seem to grasp.

He saw the people in “cages” at the Border Patrol facilities at the Border where people are taken when they are first caught crossing the border. They are holding cells while people get processed.


After they are processed the kids are handed to the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement. They are the ones who handle the care of these kids and contract with this agency.

Not the same facility, not the same people running it.

Saying because it’s there means it must be inside all these other places is a logical fallacy and straight out either dishonest or stupid. It’s like saying you say someone eating a tacos at Taco Bell so therefore McDoanlds must have tacos also. It is two totally separate facilities run by totally separate agencies and people serving two totally different purposes.

I don’t know if people are not just comprehending the difference, or are intentionally misrepresenting it, but the cages were holding cells at the Border Patrol checkpoint where people go when they first cross to be processed- NOT in the facilities where the children go after.

I want to know what is going on period. Trust (not in this case) but verify.

The non-profit running these has been doing it for 20+ years and there is a load of information on them out there.

The State of Texas has all the inspections and records available, many online, where you can see the results of inspections dating back to 2016 and earlier and see why faults were found and how/when they were fixed.

You are saying you don’t know but have you even looked? It took me justa. Few minutes to find loads of data and make an informed judgement instead of jumping on a media bandwagon.

kids ripped from their parents arms which is a bad thing to begin with...and we have no idea the conditions these kids are being held in.

I was able to pull up the organizations annual reports, look at the people running it, look at the publicly available reports where the state inspected the facilities, and find loads of other information online to make a decision on.

Several things are clear if you look:

The people running the organization are clearly very progressive people who are advocates for immigrants. Look at their bios and past works.

The organization has been working with and providing housing, education, physical and mental health care and education for refugee children for more than two decades.

The reports on file with the State about inspections and issues are available online, and while they do have some issues they don’t appear to have any more than similarly sized organizations and they do rectify problems the state finds, as the records show. Given they are working with children in such tough circumstances the record I see in their inspection reports actually has fewer problems than I would have expected.

What, exactly, do you want in the name of “transparency” that isn’t there if you bother to look that can be had while also maintaining respect for the privacy of the children and complying with federal and state regulations for maintaining the privacy for minor children in state custody?

are blackened....so much transparency.

I just find this whole matter disturbing they should not be pulling families apart period.

And we should be focused on that, not making stiff up about these places holding kids in cages when by all information out there that isn’t true.

http://www.swkey.org/about/leadership/dr_juan_sanchez/






Dr. Juan J. Sánchez, grew up in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Brownsville, Texas on the border of Mexico where life was full of challenges. He was fortunate to have a number of caring, supportive adults in his life that encouraged him to dream big and pursue an education and he became determined to spend his life helping as many people as he could to escape poverty through educational and other opportunities. His tenacity ultimately took him to Harvard University, where he was among the first Latinos to receive his doctorate from the School of Education.

In 1987, Dr. Sánchez founded Southwest Key Programs in a basement in San Antonio, Texas with a staff of five. Today, the non-profit serves youth and their families in seven states across the U.S. Through Southwest Key's work in the juvenile justice field, thousands of youth have been diverted from facilities and allowed to finish school. Through Southwest Key’s immigrant children’s shelters, thousands of unaccompanied minors have been reunified with their families.

In 2007, when Southwest Key Programs moved headquarters to the historically underserved neighborhood of East Austin, Dr. Sánchez got the opportunity to test his belief that, in order to help a child, you must help that child's entire community. Launching the East Austin Children's Promise initiative, the non-profit began offering programming in community empowerment, education, and professional development. Dr. Sánchez also realized a lifelong dream in 2009 when Southwest Key was able to write the charter for East Austin College Prep, an innovative, public charter school that aims to get 100 percent of its students into college. In the spring of 2016, that goal became a reality when 100 percent of the school’s inaugural graduating class was accepted to college.

Dr. Sanchez has served on the boards of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, and is an advisor to the Vera Institute of Justice and the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative. He was named Best Non-Profit CEO by the Austin Business Journal and is the recipient of the Ohtli Award from the Mexican Consulate, the Freddy Fender Humanitarian Award, the Rising to the Challenge Social Justice Award from LULAC, and the Leading Voices Award from American Gateways for his work on behalf of immigrant children.


Do you folks really think he is shoving kids in cages for profit?

If there is so much transparency as you claim, it should be easy to show the Wal Mart with blacked out windows is legit.

That they parade the kids out for public review like a circus parade? That they set up observation areas so people can go observe them like a zoo?

But sorry that I'm not ok with ripping kids with their parents and socking them away in old Wal Mart buildings with blackout windows where no one can see how they're being treated. That anyone at Democratic Underground is is sadly not surprising to me, but nothing new.

Separating children from parents= bad.

Having them cared for by a nonprofit agency, one that by all measures seems to be caring and run by very progressive people, while they work to reunite them and get their refugee claims handled I don’t have a problem with.

By all measures I can find the agency looks like they are good people.

You seem very hung up on it being a former zeal-Mart. Why? Would a former Target be better for you? It’s actually not surprising given that you can buy or lease former Wal-Marts cheap. Near here we have a county who bought one and moved the Healt Department and Social Services into it. I’ve been in there, they did a great job and it’s a nice facility. You can take an empty shell and do so much with it.

Of course they block the window so people like you can’t go gawking and peeping. They are human being and minor children deserving of privacy and in fact the agency has a legal responsibility to keep and maintain their private at from people like you wanna ho think the windows should be open so you can go look in like the windows at a pet store.

Being separated from Parents is a legit complaint. That is the Trump Administration.

That is seperate from these facilities and how they are run.

If you had actual, legitimate complaints about how they are being treated that would be one thing. You haven’t given one.

You’ve complained it’s a former Wal-Mart, as if the former tenant somehow taints it. It’s a building shell they could get and redo inside.

You’ve complained the windows are blocked so you can’t see inside. That’s a complaint to you, but it’s actually good they have done that- it keeps people who are unrelated to the kids who think they have a right to go leer at them out of curiosity from invading their privacy. If the windows were not blocked and anyone could see in you would be seeing footage of the kids all over right wing propaganda and then the same people complaint the windows are blocked would be complaint they haven’t protected the privacy of the kids.

There is oversight at both the federal and state level by the same people we trust to oversee child welfare other places.

So, what is your actual complaint about the way the kids are cared for other than that they won’t give you, a person with no relationship and no legitimate reason to be involved in the child’s lives, a bunch of info on them?

So, no. This isn't two separate issues.

If the inside of the Wal-Mart has been fixed up there is no reason it can’t be proper accommodation. We don’t have any indication it hasn’t been, and it’s been found acceptable to all the agencies who have inspected it.

You are just fixated on the fact that it has to be bad with no actual evidence.

Same for transparency. Your screaming “transparency” over and over but can’t define what you mean by itor how to have whatever it is that you want while maintaining and respecting the privacy of the kids. I’ve asked what you want for “transparency” and you can’t seem to define it, you just know you want it.

I get it now. You just want to be outraged andnit doesn’t matter if you have any facts worthy of outrage or not.

IF the inside has been fixed up? Yeah, exactly. If. Why should I just believe on faith that people who think an old, abandoned Wal Mart with blacked out windows is a fine place will have the inside all fixed up nice? Well, I'm going to need LOTS of hard proof on that one. The fact that they wouldn't even let a senator in is the reason I especially won't take it on faith and suspect the interior conditions are less than ideal.

I trust that the Office of Refugee Resettlement, who waited with this agency doing this during the Obama Administration as well, is doing their job.

Are you saying they can’t be trusted? If so, why?

I trust that past that the child welfare people with the State of Texas and the local county who also oversee it are also doing their jobs.

Are you saying they can’t be trusted? If so, why?

The reason a Senator wasn’t let in when he showed up demanding to be is easy to understand and is been explained- the Office of Refugee Resettlement doesn’t allow any visitors that are not cleared and coordinated with them, period. That’s to protect the privacy of the children.

So I tend to have faith in government institutions. Maybe you don’t.

But to believe your version that means that this company run by people who are by all measures we can see very progressive people (the President was on the board of La Raza even) is engaged in a deep conspiracy to mistreat these kids for profit, even though it’s a nonprofit agency.

And that conspiracy goes back 20+ years and was active during the entire Obama administration as well when these facilities were opened and contracted for.

And that the entire staff of the Office of Refugee Resettlement who works with them is in on this conspiracy to mistreat children so a non-profit can somehow profit. Dated back into the Obama Administration.

And that all of the state and local child welfare workers who have oversight are also in on the conspiracy.

And that among all those people this conspiracy has been running for many years, to mistreat these kids and hide it.

All for profit, somehow, for a non-profit agency that has as its mission aiding immigrants.

And denial of entry to the senator was just them hiding they massive, years long ongoing conspiracy.

Is that it? Because for there to be mistreatment like you claim it would require that kind of scale of conspiracy.

Or maybe the truth is the senator was denied entry based on ORR policy like anyone else would be, and there are people weaving these insane conspiracy theories of mistreatment and children in cages and everything else with no proof just because it’s what they want to believe.

But for your version to be true all the people listed above would have to be engaged in a huge conspiracy to mistreat the children and hide it. Sorry, just not seeing that as realistic. I have faith that the folks in the federal level at ORR and working at the state and county level in child services are overwhelmingly good, caring people who wouldn’t tolerate abuse or mistreatment, and there is no way you could get enoug bad apples that nobody speaks up if it’s hapoening.

But enjoy your conspiracy theories.

And FWIW, nobody owes YOU proof. Your not a parent or relative of the kids and they owe you nothing. You any think the system has to cater to your demands for proof, but that’s not how it works. They have to prove to the people responsible for oversight, not to you. That’s why there are not windows for you to go leer at the kids like a museum display to satisfy your own curiosity.

The responsibility for them to prove things is to the authorities who do oversight, not to you. If you want believe it’s a massive conspiracy and all those people are in on it and only giving you personally unfettered access to everything will change your mind, well then your beyond logic.

Legally speaking : it is not kidnapping, it is sequestration.

It is weird, I didn't know a private entity could own and manage a detention center.

In the name of what ?

Satan has transmitted his crown to the new Master. He is no longer the evil's lord !

we have no moral voice globally anymore, not that we had much of one before trump

American Red Cross and Salvation Army and the International Red Cross have access to them now?

"On a final note, it is important to understand that Casa Padre is not a detention facility. It is an unaccompanied minor shelter with many layers of oversight: it is licensed for childcare by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. All our shelters are regulated by state childcare licensing authorities as well as local and county authorities. Additionally, federal employees from ORR visit our shelters multiple times a week."

OK, where are those "federal employees", and not FAUX FUCKING NEWS, statements about the conditions in this DETENTION CENTER. And yes, it's a detention center. You can put a skirt on a pig and it's still a pig.
All I have seen is a statement from the WH demeaning the Senator.

White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said Monday that Merkley was “irresponsibly spreading blatant lies” and “smearing hardworking, dedicated law enforcement officials” who deal with migrants at the border.

Gidley argued Monday that the senator’s refusal to back President Donald Trump’s hard-line agenda allowed criminals to enter and remain in the United States.

“No one is taking a public safety lecture from Sen. Merkley, whose own policies endanger children, empower human smugglers and drug cartels, and allow violent criminal aliens to flood into American communities,” the spokesman said in a written statement.

Typical WH deflection.