Four House Democratic freshmen who recently toured detention stations for migrants along the Texas border told a House committee Friday of jam-packed, fetid holding areas ‘‘in front of the American flag’’ and accused President Trump of intentional cruelty to discourage future arrivals.

Representative Ayanna Pressley was one of the four representatives last week who visited McAllen, Texas, to tour border detention facilities for migrants arriving in the United States. On Friday, she testified before the House Oversight and Reform Committee about what she saw.

Pressley, a Massachusetts Democrat, said federal treatment of migrants has ‘‘exceeded a level of degradation we should be ashamed is occurring on American soil.’’