Tether is a corporation and they are doing what corporations do. They still had a positive roles in Bitcoin adoption in my opinion and seams to have learn from past mistake, with BTC and gold backed for their USDT.
If possible I would avoid using their token, which I did so far but if I do need to I would probably prefer them over USDC or other algorythmic stablecoin waiting to collapse.
They are not perfect but others might be much worse. Pick your poison.