AP

Children detained at Hutto say there were no toys when they were there.

Despite mounting criticism and calls for its closure, immigration officials tonight continue to defend conditions at their family detention center near Austin. But according to former detainees and others, the government made big changes just prior to allowing the public to see the inside.

By allowing us and our camera inside the Hutto Residential Center, Immigration and Customs Enforcement was able to attempt to set the record straight.

The objective, to show the world that despite external appearances, Hutto is not a prison, rather a safe and humane place to allow immigrants to reside while they await deportation. "You are going to see a spotless facility and that's not just for your benefit, that's just the way it is," said I.C.E. Assistant Director Gary Mead.

But according to some who witnessed conditions prior to the February 9th tour say it, in fact, is not the way it was.

"Oh, that's way off. Everything that's in there is new,” said 11-year-old Mohammad Hazahza as he watched the replay of our videotape showing a scene from inside the detention center’s clinic. “The walls are painted and they just opened that room and put new computers in that room."

Young Mohammad and his mother Juma shared a cell for three months. They were released just two days before our tour.

While both viewed the videotape, they noted a disparity between what we were shown as part of the tour taken by News Eight on February 9th and what they witnessed from living inside. "I missed eating oranges, tomatoes and apples,” said the 59-year-old mother. “No fruit?” I ask. “No,” replied her son, interrupting, “they only give fruits to the kids.”

Apart from the food, the Hazahzas complained about the lack of education and recreation, cold temperatures and harsh treatment by guards.

"You can't go inside your room to sleep,” said Mohammad . “If they catch you doing that, they will make a report on you for sleeping in your room."

Bahjo Hosen, 26, agrees.

She's a Somalian refugee and asylum seeker who, along with her 3-year-old son Mustafa, was held at Hutto for longer than anyone, seven months. "We cannot go to sleep during the day,” said Hosen. “We are not allowed to sleep, even if we are not feeling well. The doctor must give you permission to lay down."

But Assistant Director Mead refutes that assertion. “If a person wants to take a nap or just come in and convalesce, they can do that,” said Mead.

Among his other claims, that the Center provides its estimated 400 residents with quality health care. "The health care has remained the most constant of all our programs, we are just very sensitive to providing sound health care,” said Mead.

But those we talked to say they rarely saw a doctor or a dentist. Immigration attorney Sonia Ansari represents the Somalian Hosen and her son.

Said Ansari, “this is a detention facility that houses women and children. There's no pediatrician on staff, there's no gynecologist or other doctor for women."

Michelle Brane of the Commission for Refugee Women and Children, toured Hutto two months ago. She also watched our video tape and saw several stark changes. Among the most noteworthy, teddy bears and dolls displayed on the cell beds and placed about the small rooms.

“No dolls, we didn't see a single doll or stuffed animal the whole time we were in there," said Brane. She also noted newly painted walls, bright, cheery wall decorations and something else that surprised her, “There were no toy boxes, not that we saw anyway."

Young Mohammad’s eyes pop open wide when he watches the video of toys in a room. "That's not true,” said Mohammad, “They don’t let you keep toys in the room."

The consensus among those watching our videotape is that immigration officials had tried to soften the public's perception of what might be construed as inhumane. But now, there is new evidence that changes continue to be made. The front entrance fence and gate we walked through upon entering the complex was removed. And the razor wire that ringed the prison perimeter and defined the status of those locked inside has also been removed.

The once empty playground area has come alive with children being permitted to play on slides and swings.