- The Trump administrationis playing defense

after news reports thatpaint a horrifying look

inside a migrant detentioncenter just outside of El Paso.

- I saw visually, I havepeople there that told me

the job that they are doing is incredible.

- [Abigail] But thisNew York Times article

provides a much different story,

citing unnamed borderpatrol agents that claim

they've been ringing the alarms,but no one was listening,

as they grapple withthe stuff of nightmares.

They talk of outbreaks ofscabies, shingles and chicken pox,

spreading among hundreds ofchildren in cramped cells.

- Every person should say,look, if they're kids,

they haven't committed a crime.

Those kids should have sanitation,

they should have a hot meal,they should have diapers,

they should make sure thatthey are treated with fairness.

- [Abigail] CongressmanRo Khanna tells CBN News,

he believes there needs to be clear health

and nutrition standardsat the detention centers.

- The issue is not just money,

the issue is having basic rules

to make sure that those supplies

are actually getting to those kids,

to make sure that we don'thave 100 people in cells

that, in detention centers,

they can only accommodate 20 or 30.

- [Abigail] Just lastweek, the Inspector General

released photos showingdangerous overcrowding

in other detention facilities,

urging the Department of Homeland Security

to address the situation.

- This is an extraordinarilychallenging situation.

We had an overflow situationwith hundreds of children

crossing every day.

- [Abigail] Acting DHSSecretary, Kevin McAleenan,

told ABC that claims inthe New York Times report

are unsubstantiated.

- So, I'm not denying thatthere are challenging situations

at the border, I've been theone talking about it the most.

What I can tell you right now

is that there's adequate food, water,

and that the reason thosechildren were at Clint station

in the first place is sothey could have medical,

consolidated, they had showerfacilities for over a year,

there's been showers there.

- The Clint facility, built in 2013,

was never intended to holdmore than 100 adult men.

It reportedly peaked toholding 700 children in April

and 250 just two weeks ago.

McAleenan acknowledges,with over 500,000 people

crossing the border since December,

they have had a lot of issues,

but are hoping they improvenow that Congress approved

a much needed spending plan.

Reporting from Capitol Hill,

Abigail Robertson, CBN News.