right that Trump's now-suspended policy at the U.S.-Mexico border separated thousands of children from their families in ways that had not been done before. But what she did not say is that the very same “cages” were built and used in her husband's administration, for the same purpose of holding migrant kids temporarily.

 

Image by Marcus Aurelius. American Thinker

[Michelle Obama] right that Trump's now-suspended policy at the U.S.-Mexico border separated thousands of children from their families in ways that had not been done before. But what she did not say is that the very same “cages” were built and used in her husband's administration, for the same purpose of holding migrant kids temporarily.

Did Obama Admin Build Cages That House Immigrant Children at U.S.-Mexico Border? 

(snopes.com)

The claim: Michelle Obama criticized the Trump administration for putting kids in cages, but the cages were built during the Obama administration  . . . "In a 2019 interview with nonpartisan think tank The Aspen Institute, Jeh Johnson, Barack Obama's Homeland Security secretary, told NPR's Mary Louise Kelly that the "cages" predate the Trump administration.

" 'Chain-link barriers, partitions, fences, cages, whatever you want to call them were not invented on January 20, 2017," Johnson said. 

"Kelly asked Johnson about a 2014 photograph of him touring an Arizona facility for migrants along with former Gov. Jan Brewer. The picture is archived on the website for the Arizona Capitol Times.

"That image was also part of another social media meme accusing Michelle Obama of lying about "kids in cages" during her DNC speech. Facebook user Eulalia Maria Jimenez posted it to her page on Aug. 18. Johnson is circled in red in the image.

"Johnson explained the picture was taken during a spike in unaccompanied minors crossing the southern border of the country.

"The photograph you're referring to was a facility in Arizona — I recognize the photograph because Gov. Brewer was with me — and it was during the spike ...  and we had a lot of unaccompanied kids, we had a lot of family units. And under the law, once they're apprehended by the border patrol, within 72 hours, we have to transfer unaccompanied children to (the Department of Health and Human Services). And HHS then puts them in a shelter, and they find placement for them somewhere in the United States." Johnson explained." . . .