It's a personal choice to put yourself and your family at such risk.
The GOP wants more funding for facilities, but The Democrats are using it for political gain because they want open borders (and can now point to horrible conditions and blame the current administration).
Many children are separated from parents because molesters and criminals were bringing children over and claiming them as their own, only to go through continued abuse later on.
This policy started during the Obama administration and makes sense.
As for your remark about 'cages'? It's this sort of hyperbole that doesn't help the situation.