Dan,

"You forget some of us were around at the time. The Obergefell decision came out. That was the day YOU went loco."

Gay marriage didn't offend me. I thought legal recognition of gay relationships could encourage commitment, stability and lasting relationships. I was more inclined toward civil unions. That's water under the bridge.

Same sex marriage became legal in VA on Oct 6, 2014, after the US Supreme Court declined to review a lower court's decision.

Gavin Grimm's lawsuit against the Gloucester County School Board was filed June 11, 2015. The ACLU represented Grimm, a 16 year old student who was born female and identified as male, seeking access to the boys restrooms.

Fifteen days later, on June 26, the Supreme Court issued the Obergefell decision recognizing a constitutional right to same sex marriage nationwide.

Supporting legal recognition of gay relationships didn't mean I supported replacing sex based rules for restrooms and changing rooms with rules based on gender identity.

Those developments brought that distinction quickly into focus for me. The legal disputes extended beyond marriage, and I became concerned about how the current Supreme Court might approach other questions involving sex and gender, and just how far other rulings might go.

I worried that future rulings could actually require schools and other institutions to allow people born male access to women's restrooms and changing rooms based on gender identity instead of sex. I was concerned the same Court that decided Obergefell might uphold those requirements as well.

Then, by the 2016 election, Scalia's seat was already vacant. Kennedy's was another potential vacancy. Both were Reagan appointees. If Hillary had the opportunity to fill both seats and her nominees were confirmed, she could replace two Republican appointees with justices of her choice and move the Court 2 more seats further to the left.

That was THE reason I voted for Trump. No other...Dan. Those appointments could shape the Supreme Court and its decisions for decades.

I feared a further shift to the left could have devastating consequences for society.

Dan,

"The only acceptable solution would be to make Haiti safe for folks who fled. A mere impossibility.
And you blame Obama for that."

No. That's not what I said.

Making Haiti safe was not the only possible solution. Congress could have passed legislation giving eligible Haitian TPS recipients a path to permanent residency.

Obama's administration granted them temporary protection and renewed it for years. I think securing a lasting arrangement for those people should have been a higher priority.

Yes, Obama supported broader immigration reform. Congress shares responsibility for failing to deliver it. He couldn't do it alone.

But he left office without a permanent solution for these Haitians. Their future still depended on whether subsequent administrations would continue renewing their temporary protection.

What did Obama expect would happen to these people if a future administration stopped extending it?

That is what I'm criticizing. In my opinion, Obama dropped the ball on securing a lasting solution.

Trump is responsible for his decisions. But he shouldn't get all the blame for a situation Obama and Congress failed to resolve.

Congress could have addressed Haitian TPS recipients through a targeted law without overhauling the entire immigration system.

Zed,

"You people have cattle cars reserved for all of us."

Do you actually think conservatives want people loaded into train cars, taken to camps, gassed, and their bodies burned?

That bears no resemblance to what I or other conservatives I know believe.

If we won't agree with your border policies, suddenly we're Nazis with cattle cars waiting?

I find many of the values you defend abhorrent. But disagreeing with you about immigration or morality does not mean I want you imprisoned or killed.

America is deeply divided. But those disagreements do not justify your Nazi comparisons.

What have I actually said that gives you any basis for including me in that accusation?

Without something to support that accusation, all you have is character assassination.

You don't get to invent something monstrous, assign it to me, and then act like I owe you an explanation.

Zed,

"None of this hurt was possible without you."

Biden began reversing Trump's immigration policies immediately, including "Remain in Mexico."

Border Patrol encounters then reached record levels during Biden's presidency.

You have a lot of nerve calling anyone stupid while ignoring the decisions made by the administration Democrats supported.

Trump is responsible for his decisions. Biden and the Democrats who supported his policies are responsible for theirs.

My point was what did Obama think was going to happen to these people he kept extending their TCP status without also providing a solution.

They were being given special accommodations without a full plan to residency.

I partially blame Obama.