Barack Obama finally breaks his silence on immigration controversy, and it's kind of a let down
Former President Barack Obama finally weighed in on the ongoing debate over the separation of migrant children from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border, and it left a little to be desired for a few reasons.
SEE ALSO: Michelle Obama joins Laura Bush in taking on Trump's immigration policy
In a post to Facebook Wednesday afternoon to mark World Refugee Day, Obama lamented, "And to watch those families broken apart in real time puts to us a very simple question: are we a nation that accepts the cruelty of ripping children from their parents’ arms, or are we a nation that values families, and works to keep them together?"
It's an eloquent explanation of everything that's wrong with the current administration's approach to immigration, but it stops short of a full-throated condemnation, choosing instead to offer more of a "this is how it should be" argument.
While it's traditionally unusual for a former president to weigh in on the current administration's policies and actions, these are unusual times. Obama has done so on a few occasions, criticizing Trump's action on policies that he helped create, like the Iran Nuclear Deal, the Affordable Care Act, and the Paris Climate Agreement.
Another reason Obama may not have offered a totally damning condemnation of Trump's immigration policy is that his administration had its own checkered policy approach on the subject.
SEE ALSO: 7 activist groups supporting families at the border that need your help right now
First, though, it is important to note that the Trump administration's assertion that the family separation policy was utilized by Obama is a lie. As NBC News outlines, the separations were never enacted as policy and in the instances where it did occur, it was remedied quickly.
Additionally, Sarah Pierce, a policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, told the Washington Post:
The Obama administration also fought hard for amnesty for undocumented immigrants (via the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive order), but some efforts have been undone by the Supreme Court, and Trump is continuing efforts to repeal DACA.
But the Obama administration did use the detention of families in an effort to deter other undocumented migrants from crossing the border in 2014 and 2015, when there was a surge of such crossings, a move that was derided by many at the time.
The courts intervened, though, saying the policy violated a pair of court cases that set the standards and length of times undocumented migrant families could be detained, and they had to be released after a set amount time while they awaited immigration hearings.
The process was called "catch and release" and dated back to the George W. Bush administration, but is often (incorrectly) associated with Obama because of those battle with the courts. Trump ended this practice in 2018 in an effort to crack down on undocumented migrants.
The Obama administration also faced harsh criticism from immigration rights activists and officials for its high number of deportations — the most of any president so far. The Obama administration focused primarily on undocumented migrants who had a criminal history, but the overall high number and criticism from activists have lingered.
None of this equates Obama's immigration policy (which had plenty of positive elements along with those that were criticized) with that of Trump's heinous, inhumane approach. But it does go a way to explaining why Obama is soft-pedaling his criticism of Trump in this instance when previously he has been more forthright.
Unlike Trump, Obama seems self-aware of his legacy on immigration and is seeking not the inflame that critique further. Though there may come a time when Obama supporters and those who oppose Trump's policy call on the 44th president to say and do more, his previous stances be damned.
