1. “This is not a manufactured crisis. This is truly an emergency.”

Kirstjen Nielsen, the Homeland Security secretary, urged Congress to confront what she called a “humanitarian catastrophe” on the southern border by supporting President Trump’s border wall, though it is not clear how a wall would alter the flow of asylum seekers or address their needs.

She was also defiant in the face of criticism of how the administration treats migrant families at the border, especially separating families.