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At separate hearings on Capitol Hill, Democratic lawmakers hammered the Trump administration Tuesday over the “zero tolerance” prosecution policy that split thousands of migrant children from their parents last year and devolved into a political fiasco for the White House. Several Trump officials acknowledged to the House Judiciary Committee that they did not speak up to supervisors or attempt to stop the implementation of the family separations at the border, despite warnings it probably would traumatize children. Facing aggressive and sometimes angry questions from Democrats, the officials who formulated and carried out the separation system recognized communication failures among their agencies, but defended their actions as an attempt to uphold immigration laws. (Miroff, Sacchetti and Sonmez, 2/26)

The controversial former head of the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement told a House panel Tuesday that he did not pass along warnings about the psychological impact of separating children from their families. Under questioning from Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee, Scott Lloyd said he did not tell his superiors that separating children from families could have lasting health consequences. (Weixel, 2/26)

Thousands of accusations of sexual abuse and harassment of migrant children in government-funded shelters were made over the past four years, including scores directed against adult staff members, according to federal data released Tuesday. The cases include allegations of inappropriate touching, staff members allegedly watching minors while they bathed and showing pornographic videos to minors. Some of the allegations included inappropriate conduct by minors in shelters against other minors, as well as by staff members. (Long, 2/26)

The allegations include rumors of sexual relationships between staff and minors and reports of staff forcibly touching the genitals of minors, as well as inappropriate touching between staff and minors. Deutch said the agency provided the documents in response to a request for information from the House Judiciary Committee. During a committee hearing Tuesday about the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy of separating families at the border, Deutch questioned agency officials about the findings. (Weixel, 2/26)

Detainees confined to federal immigration detention facilities located in California have inadequate access to health care, lawyers and family, state Attorney General Xavier Becerra said Tuesday. Becerra was discussing the findings of a 147-page report prepared by his office that also found that detainees face long periods of confinement without breaks and language barriers in the 10 detention facilities state authorities inspected in 2017. (Elias, 2/26)

Many immigrants held in federally overseen detention centers in California are confined in their cells for up to 22 hours a day, have trouble accessing medical and mental health care and face significant barriers in obtaining translators and lawyers, the state attorney general’s office said Tuesday. (Sanchez, 2/26)