The cruelty is the point. White people acting out their racist fantasies on Black and Brown children.
This has nothing to do with law and everything to do with white supremacy being allowed to enact vengeance on kids for fictional slights and made up threats.
Every day this continues is a confirmation that white people are comfortable with fascism as long as POC suffer and die too.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/21/us/migrant-children-border-soap.html