Yep, those cages were built during Obama's time to help deal with a flood of immigrants.
Trump used them in part to separate families, and 545 children are now orphaned in part due to this policy.
Those two facts are true. If your reaction to the second one is whataboutism, or "he started it" then it is transparently political. So is ignoring the deadlock that proceeded it, as though Trump invented the cruelty he amplified. I'm not sure it's fair to lay deadlock concerning immigration reform on Obama's doorstep though, given his Dreamers act was one of the only pieces of meaningful reform in ages.
I think the reality is that the USA is fine with abject cruelty on every margin. Whether it's war, abject poverty, hunger, institutionalized racism, or a giant prison population, just as long as it's over there, somewhere, it's fine. It's like NIMBY corporatism. The home front though? It's weak and fat and lazy, and it has been destroyed by being gifted success.
The response to covid has underscored that for me. This country can't handle wearing little masks on their face, or a year of minor hardship. I'm not talking about the people out of a job, I'm talking about the people who have to change vacation plans and eat a fucking meal outside. It's a country of babies run by the biggest baby of all.
