Find more Claytoonz here.

Sixteen state lawmakers toured the Tucson center holding immigrant children, Southwest Key, on July 13—three days after the federal government’s deadline to reconnect children under 5 years of age with their parents.

The facility currently holds 294 children, between the ages of 5 and 17, of which 73 were separated from their families at the border since the announcement of Donald Trump’s zero-tolerance policy.

Two weeks ago, the facility had 84 children who had been separated from their families, of which 11 were presumably either reunited with their families or deported. The facility’s staff wouldn’t specify where the children had gone.

“Some of those 11 did go back [to their home countries],” said Rep. Pamela Powers (D-Tucson), who was on the tour. “And some went back with their parents, so we don’t know exactly where the 11 went, but they didn’t all go to happy places probably.”

Rep. Kelli Butler (D-Phoenix) said she pushed the staff on where the children had gone, and staff said they couldn’t say.

“I left feeling very concerned, more than ever,” she said. She asked them for details on how they were going to comply with the deadline to reunify children, and staff wouldn’t give any details.

Southwest Key staff told the lawmakers they’re on track to comply with the second federal deadline, on July 26, to reunite the separated children. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Regional Director Brian Shiozawa, who was also at the facility, said they hope to meet the deadline.

“HHS would love to see the children reunited safely with their families,” he said.

In mid-June the Department of Homeland Security announced 2,342 children had been separated from their parents at the border since early May.

On July 12, the federal government announced it had reunited 57 out of 103 children under 5 years old who had been separated from their parents as a result of the zero-tolerance policy. The other 47 children were not reunited for reasons including their parents had been deported, have criminal records, have a communicable disease or were found not to be the biological parents.

After a 45-minute Q&A with the Southwest Key staff, the lawmakers were asked to put their phones in their cars before being given a tour of the facility. Powers said children silently walked by in a single-file line. The lawmakers saw a few groups adding up to about 30 kids filing from one room to another, as wells as one classroom of 25 kids.

Powers said the staff wouldn’t comment on the legal status of the children at the facility, whether they were refugees, asylum seekers or undocumented without seeking asylum.

Staff told the lawmakers not to interact with the children. When Shiozawa, the HHS regional director, told staff to go ahead and let the lawmakers talk to the children, the staff insisted that they couldn’t, per the Office of Refugee Resettlement, a branch of HHS and the federal organization in charge of the children.

Shiozawa said it was his first visit to the facility, and he hadn’t realized that ORR had decided not to let visitors interact with the kids. His current understanding is that it’s ORR policy.

Powers said the facility looks like a cross between an elementary school and old hotel. It was once a Hilton hotel that housed Hollywood movie stars before it became university student housing. It began housing unaccompanied minors in 2014.

The hotel rooms have images including Disney princesses on the walls next to bunk and single beds. The courtyard is dirt. The lawmakers saw a basketball court but no playground.

“Maybe it was dressed up for our visit, but it isn’t horrible,” Powers said. “My main beef is with the whole system.”

A week earlier, state senator and candidate for U.S. Congress Catherine Miranda (D-Phoenix) visited the facility and passed around her phone so the children could call their parents.

“As a mother, I truly just sat there and thought: I do not want them to see me as an elected official but a sister and a mother,” she said.

She talked with them, hugged them, gave one of them the gold crucifix she was wearing around her neck, and she promised them to do what she could to help them. She was surprised and disappointed that she couldn’t interact with them on the second visit, a week later.

“One week, there are no rules and I’m allowed to be a humanitarian, and the next week, my phone is taken away, and I’m not allowed to talk to the kids,” she said.

Miranda said her purpose in being there is not to make sure the facilities are clean or that the kids are fed. She said that’s a distraction from the real issue of making sure the family reunification happens.

There have been many reports regarding the account of former employee Antar Davidson, who said he quit his job at Southwest Key after being told to separate young siblings who were hugging after being separated from their parents. Powers says the facility director Juan Concepcion Carrero told the group of lawmakers that they don’t stop children from hugging.

When a Tucson Weekly reporter called Southwest Key, the automated machine took her in circles, never leading to a human being. And the repeated times she called Concepcion Carrero’s desk, he never picked up and his voicemail was full.

Shiozawa said it’s Southwest Key’s job to make sure the kids are well cared for and safe, and that the circumstances at the facility “looked satisfactory.”

“It’s not a fancy resort, but they get meals, clothes, education, medical care and legal representation,” he said. When questioned about the legal representation, he said he wasn’t positive from where or if they did receive legal representation.

Powers said when lawmakers asked the staff about legal representation for the children, they sidestepped the question.

The government does not provide public defenders for immigrants. The Florence Project is a local nonprofit legal service organization that provides representation for immigrants facing legal proceedings, and is primarily funded through donations.

“It doesn’t seem like the federal government feels it has any obligation to these kids, and that’s disturbing to me,” said Rep. Kirsten Engel, D-Tucson. She later added that the state has a responsibility to the children and should make sure they have legal representation and the Florence Project has enough resources.

During the Q&A, Southwest Key staff told lawmakers that teachers are not certified but have bachelor’s degrees. However, none of the teachers are certified in teaching to English Language Learners, students who speak other languages before English.

There are case managers and medical staff on site. Children meet weekly with one of the facility’s 21 behavioral counselors, most of whom have master’s degrees but are not certified.

“They look like they’re safely cared for, and I think these people really do care—the people in this facility care,” Rep. Butler said. “There’s higher-level problems about, and any time we’re not being given transparent access, that makes me concerned.”

Watermelon Wednesday. Reid Park Zoo puts a wild twist on a classic summer staple with its weekly Watermelon Wednesday events. Hang out at the zoo and watch elephants, grizzlies, otters, tapirs and more snack on watermelon popsicles and smash whole watermelons. You don’t have to stand on the sidelines when it comes to the watermelon: watermelon Eegees and slices will be available for purchase throughout the zoo. 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 18. 3400 E. Zoo Court. Details here.

Beginners Guide to Meditation. Are you one of those people who’s always thought that meditating sounded like a good idea, in theory, but every time you’ve sat down to try it, you haven’t been able to stop thinking about when the last time you washed your sheets was, or whether you paid the electricity bill, or whether people still remember that embarrassing thing you did in fifth grade? This affordable series of classes will get you set up with all of the basic guidelines and simple, time-tested techniques to get you on the right track. All levels are welcome! Even if you’ve been meditating for awhile, but want to reboot your practice, this class could be for you. 7 a.m. every Wednesday through Aug. 1. The Yoga Connection, 3929 E. Pima St. $40. Details here.

Woof Down Wednesday at Mama’s Hawaiian Bar-B-Cue. Chow down on Hawaiian barbecue and help some pets while you’re at it. The Humane Society of Southern Arizona has partnered with various restaurants across Tucson to pair good food with a good cause. This week, head over to Mama’s, grab your favorite dish and be sure to take your receipt to the Humane Society table inside the restaurant, where 20 percent of your bill will go to the foundation. 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 18. At Mama’s locations at 8300 N. Thornydale Road, Suite 120, 6310 E. Tanque Verde Road, suite 120, 1011 N. Tyndall Ave. and 4016 N. First Ave., suite 100. Details here.
North of Nightfall. Sonoran Desert Mountain Bicyclists and The Loft Cinema are teaming up for a premiere of the new Red Bull documentary on some of the most incredible biking trails in the world. High up in the arctic glaciers, cyclists ride over ice and snow, and wouldn’t have it any other way. All proceeds support development of the 100-Acre Wood Bike Park. 6:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 18. 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. $10. Details here.

Arizona Biennial 2018 at the Tucson Museum of Art. Artwork from all over the state was juried into this exhibition by guest juror Rebecca R. Hart, curator of modern and contemporary art at the Denver Art Museum. Works by dozens of artists, in dozens of mediums, will be on display in the James J. and Louse R. Glasser Galleries, the Chann Gallery and the Green Gallery. After all, you can’t spell “Tucson, Arizona” without “art.” On display through Sunday, Sept. 16 at the Tucson Museum of Art, 140 N. Main Ave. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month. $12 adults, $10 seniors 65+, $7 college students with ID and youth 13-17, free for kids 12 and under, veterans and museum members. Details here.

Events compiled by Emily Dieckman, Dylan Reynolds, BS Eliot, Ava Garcia and Jeff Gardner.

Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures announced on Monday that Rugrats will soon return to both the big and small screen.

The adored animated characters will make their comeback with 26 new episodes of Rugrats and a live-action film that will feature CGI versions of the classic characters such as Chuckie Finster, Tommy and Angelica Pickles, and Lillian DeVille.

Nickelodeon has yet to announce the official airdate for the 26 episodes of the Emmy award-winning show but says that the movie will debut sometime in November of 2020.

Former Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio, who incidentally is running for U.S. Senate, got punked by actor Sasha Baron Cohen, who convinced him to do a fake interview last week by promising him a large audiance.

Arpaio later told Breitbart News that although the interview made him uncomfortable, he's no quitter. It was when the conversation turned to "golden showers," the 86-year-old became "very uncomfortable.

We can all look forward to seeing this interview as well as interviews with Sarah Palin, conservative radio host Joe Walsh and many more favorites in his new show Who is America?

Slate writes:

In the video posted Sunday morning in advance of the show’s premiere that night, a heavily made up Cohen poses as an Israeli anti-terrorist expert, Erran Morad. As Morad, Cohen has the mission to get guns in the hands of schoolchildren as young as four years old, saying that efforts to arm teachers are insufficient. And he gets a lot of help for his “Kinder-Guardians” initiative from the gun lobby—as well as some Republican leaders.

Who is America premiered on Showtime on July 15.

Politico looks at how Democrats once again hope that they will win some statewide races in Arizona:

A new POLITICO/AARP poll shows Democrats ahead by 7 points in generic ballots in both the governor’s and Senate races. But to actually win statewide elections in this highly ethnically polarized state, Democrats will need to juice turnout among younger and especially older Latinos, who have tended to vote at lower rates than other voters in their age group — who also are trending ever more Republican. And not just in purplish Arizona: All across the U.S. Southwest, Latino voters could be the key to flipping Republican strongholds from red to blue, if only the Democratic Party can figure out how to get enough of them to the polls. Solve that mystery, and even a GOP-dominated state like Texas could suddenly be in play.

As Politico notes, it's hardly the first time Democrats have gotten their hopes up. Still, they are hoping that this time, Trump's presence really will get out the Democratic—and Latino—vote:

Last week, Build-A-Bear Workshop's pay-your-age event, which promised to sell bears for the same cost of children's ages, sent kids home bear-handed as the event garnered more customers  than the company could handle.

Local authorities were called to some of the store's locations as the crowds became unruly in response to the excessive wait times. The Washington Post reported that some wait times extended seven hours in some locations.

The company said that it would have been impossible for them to predict such a large response to the event, and sent some waiting customers home with $15 vouchers for future visits to make up for the un-bear-able wait times.

Customers fought back arguing that Build-A-Bear should not have been so blind sided by the large consumer response, as the event featured significant price drops on the furry friends. 

Build-A-Bear later announced that they would still honor the pay-your-age deal, but only on birthdays as a part of their "Count Your Candles" program.

To take advantage of the pay-your-age deal, a Build-a-Bear Bonus Club membership is required, and it is is only good for children 14 years of age or younger.

Today is World Emoji Day, and while that is fun and interesting, the real fun is in the reason why.

Right now, go into your emoji keyboard, scroll through to the calendar emojis and voila! They show July 17.

Here at the Tucson Weekly we celebrated by finding everyone in the office with different types of  phones, and guess what? It works on all of them! (at least on the ones we tried.)

Do you embrace the power of emojis? Or are you a stark and serious no-smiley kind of person?

What is your favorite emoji? The avocado, the tiny fire fighter, one of the 12 different options for a train? There are so many to choose from, and there are ever more being added. Happy emoji day everyone, get out there and spread the emoji love. 

JD Souther could be the most famous A-list ’70s dude you don’t know. Yes, he co-penned glacial radio hits for The Eagles (“Heartache Tonight,” “New Kid in Town,” natch), The Seeg, Linda Ronstadt (dated and was a producer for her, too) and Bonnie Raitt, and there was his starring cameo in country-rock stoner supergroup Souther, Hillman, Furay. (Listen for Souther’s “Border Town” on their debut for some epic country-rock sleaze.) Hell, the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame even inducted Souther in ’13. Like Paul Williams, you can hum his tunes, sing off-key to his words and never know what the hell he looks like. But his own stuff, under his own name, soars, even if it didn’t fly of shelves well. (His ’76, Peter Asher-helmed LP Black Rose was a thing of pure Mellow Mafia beauty, and it ascended from there to his ’79 gem You’re So Lonely.) Souther pens songs of a different era, when listeners would still endure painful recollection through song, looking for catharsis. His voice is lonely and vulnerable without apology. When he mourns heartbreak, it’s palpable, when he celebrates life, it’s infectious. We’ve lost this direct transfer of emotion from songster to audience in the digital, any-idiot-with-a-laptop-makes-a-record era, and Souther offers a chance to re-kindle such exchanges the old-fashioned way. Thursday, July 19. Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St. Doors at 7 p.m. $28-$35, All ages. 

Find more Claytoonz here.