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OK, I'm just going to tweet a thread and pin it and if anyone reads it, they read it. But the difference between the "Children in cages" under Obama and Trump are ENTIRELY different things.
They're not apples and oranges. They're apples and laptops.
They're not apples and oranges. They're apples and laptops.
When Obama was President there was a law that said an unaccompanied minor arriving form non-bordering countries would be guaranteed an asylum hearing.
The reason for the law was that it was an aid in getting trafficked children to testify against their traffickers.
The reason for the law was that it was an aid in getting trafficked children to testify against their traffickers.
In Central America, where things were going to hell, they got wind of his law and started sending up their children by the 1000s. But the key is they had to be unaccompanied.
When these children would cross the border, they would surrender themselves to the border patrol.
When these children would cross the border, they would surrender themselves to the border patrol.
By law, the government was obligated to detain them. And it's not like they could just turn them out on the street either. The problem was they just didn't have the space to facility it when thousands of people were arriving per day.
So they bought a big warehouse and converted it. They put chain-link fencing as the walls because it was 1. cheap, 2. quick, and 3. allowed for good ventilation which meant that AC wasn't overworked, which is really important on the Texas/Mexico border in the summer.
So yeah, it had the look of "cages" but they were not "cages."
There was a policy called "catch-and-release" (also started under Bush), that allowed people who surrendered themselves for asylum to stay with relatives or friends until their hearing.
There was a policy called "catch-and-release" (also started under Bush), that allowed people who surrendered themselves for asylum to stay with relatives or friends until their hearing.
It took a few days to process that, especially with the massive numbers coming over. So the average stay in those "cages" (i.e. the warehouse with chain link fences) was 3 days.
People want to get pissy because I called it temporary housing facility, but that's what it was.
People want to get pissy because I called it temporary housing facility, but that's what it was.
This is extremely different from what Trump did.
Two major differences.
First, Trump practiced child separations, literally taking children away from their parents. If you can't distinguish between an unaccompanied minor and child separations, think on it.
Two major differences.
First, Trump practiced child separations, literally taking children away from their parents. If you can't distinguish between an unaccompanied minor and child separations, think on it.
Second, Trump's goal was to make it a deterrent. As has been repeated, "The cruelty is the point." He never had a goal of putting them in homes or giving them an asylum hearing. His objective was to make them suffer.
He also had many more detainment facilities built, but yes, he did use the same facility that Obama built. That doesn't mean that Obama built all the "cages" (which aren't really cages at all.)
Other than the similarity that they both used a facility that Obama had built, there is nothing at all in common between the two.
Obama detained unaccompanied minors until he could find a home for them.
Trump kidnapped children just to make them suffer.
Obama detained unaccompanied minors until he could find a home for them.
Trump kidnapped children just to make them suffer.
If you don't see the difference between those two things, then don't lecture me on my morality or how I'm a horrible person. Understanding the difference doesn't make me horrible.
