14170400:Charlie_Kelly said:
Migrant kids were dying in US custody throughout the Obama presidency.
Going to have to ask for a source on that first sentence...I know of at least 8 who died under Trump...I haven't seen any reliable source giving any sort of number under Obama.
I'm not going to deny that he had kids behind chain link fences HOWEVER it's a little more nuanced in which kids were put into them.
Trump had (he later revoked it after severe backlash, even from Melania) a zero tolerance policy for immigrants, meaning any and all kids were separated from their parents. Obama limited it to situations where a child's safety was at risk OR their parents had criminal records.
Is that acceptable? Not really, but it's quite different than any and every kid being put into these facilities.
The difference between criticisms leveled at the Trump administration and the Obama administration are due to Trump making immigration a focal point for his presidential term. He brought the spotlight on how immigrants were and still are being treated. Any sane person will acknowledge Obama was a pretty shitty POTUS when it came to immigrant rights. However, by making it a mainstay in his campaign and later presidency, Trump can only blame himself for the negative press.
Is it a double standard? You betcha.
But it's a self-inflicted wound.
I think we also need to recognize something when looking at immigration numbers. We've got ZERO idea, for any presidency, of the type of people coming into this country. I don't think anyone, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Green Party, etc. would be upset if violent criminals were turned away at the border. I'd like to think we'd all welcome people who could contribute positively to society.
The issue is, we know under Trump that ICE is indiscriminate with whom they send back. Trump is not going to win over many people if he sends back a family that's on the run from a drug war, and that's a lot of what the media is focusing on.
**This post was edited on Sep 2nd 2020 at 4:40:02pm