In 2016, before Trump was president, Obama was using ICE to deport some illegal immigrants and families were separated. Yet the media didn’t act like it was the end of the world.
There were no protests. No one was being accused of being a Nazi or a fascist. The left didn’t care at all and neither did the media.
In the clip below, one journalist calmly asks about it and Obama’s press secretary Josh Earnest is able to answer without interruption.
Even the reporting from the Washington Post was more measured:
Asked about the removal operations, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said that the administration has “prioritized the cases of recent arrivals, individuals who recently crossed the border without proper documentation. That is the nature of the operations carried out in the last several days.”
Earnest said the efforts are “consistent with the priorities the president himself talked about, deporting felons not families, with a focus on individuals who only recently crossed the border.”
He added that those targeted for removal have gone through due process legal proceedings and said the effort will help discourage Central American families that sending their children on a dangerous journey to try to enter the United States illegally.
“People should take from this the understanding that the administration is quite serious when it comes to enforcing immigration laws.”
Because of the sensitivity of taking children into custody and deporting them and their families, authorities took precautions during the raids, Johnson’s statement said, using female agents when possible to apprehend families and having medical personnel on hand.
Watch this video:
2016. Obama’s Press Secretary is asked about reports that during immigration raids, ICE agents were storming into homes, going room to room looking for illegals, and making children tremble with fear.
I thought only fascist Presidents do that sort of thing.
Why was the press… pic.twitter.com/oQ1UgeJiJg
— MAZE (@mazemoore) January 13, 2026
On the same note, here’s Obama himself in 2013 talking about deporting people.
From Townhall:
“As time goes on, a thousand deportations on average a day. People are wondering…won’t you at least consider unilaterally freezing deportations for the parents of deferred action kids?” reporter Jose Diaz-Balart asked.
“Here’s the problem that I have, Jose, and I’ve said this consistently,” Obama replied, “my job in the Executive Branch is supposed to be to carry out the laws that are passed. Congress has said, ‘Here’s the law when it comes to those who are undocumented,’ and they allocate a whole bunch of money for enforcement.”
Watch:
2013. Obama is asked if he would at least stop deportations of parents of children brought here illegally.
In other words, would he stop family separations and stop deportations of people who have “done nothing wrong.”
Obama: “That is not an option.”pic.twitter.com/GaEXsWgn7u
— MAZE (@mazemoore) January 11, 2026
No one on the left called Obama a Nazi or a fascist. They didn’t even really seem to care. Which just goes to show that this is all about the left being out of power. They don’t care about these people at all. They just can’t stand Trump having the power that they once had.
The post FLASHBACK: Watch How Calmly the Media Talked About ICE Raids and Family Separation Under Obama (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.