What decision? To uphold the same laws Obama and Clinton did?
This is a strawman in more than one regard. First off, did I defend it in any context? No. It's indefensible in any context. Second, Donald had the policy changed from one that "occasionally" (I really do wish I had actual statistics but apparently the Obama administration didn't keep notes. This is a quote from the co-director of Comparative Immigration Studies) separated families to a
zero-tolerance policy that
always separated them.
And this could easily be hearsay but I've heard around that the reason it was never focused on a great deal before was because the kids were allegedly never kept for this long. Either way, I wish I had known about it earlier.
There were several absolutely inexcusable things that happened in his transition from 'occasionally' to 'always.'
First, the consequences of this action were never considered. The camps and cages they kept the children in, and the disgusting conditions those entailed was one of those consequences. Storing multiple thousand children away from their parents is a hell of a lot different than tens or a couple hundred. (Again I can't find exact statistics, but 1-10% seems reasonable)
There are also other consequences, like for example how the kids are to get reunited. Last I heard the literal only way they have of identifying the kids is a wrist bracelet. In small numbers sure, that can work, but on the scale that ICE implemented it simply does not work. There's too many to keep track of when some of the kids will inevitably find a way to rip or tear it off. Kids
will get lost and on a fundamentally human level that is unacceptable. Even if the parents didn't have American values in mind, taking that out on the children is as immoral, unamerican, and unchristian as it gets.
Then there's the remorse aspect of this: He showed absolutely no remorse for this policy and the disastrous consequences it had. Instead of working to make things right he repeatedly denied and shifted blame, and when he finally did undo the policy via executive order the damage was already done. There hasn't been any signs of him showing any emotional response or remorse for what happened.