In the past year, our country has gone through a number of changes. Although 2016 is the year many want to forget, the biggest event we all will remember is the change of president. When Mr. Trump was elected, there was an uproar. To think of what could happen to all the progress our country has had was a terrifying thought. Some were so shaken they participated in the Women’s March on Saturday, January 21, 2017, across all seven continents. It was a march to actively protest our new president.
Since his first day in office about a month ago, many orders have been passed. “With a flick of a pen, a new president can undo years of work by previous administration through his constitutional executive powers” (CNN). So far, Trump has signed 12 executive orders and 12 memorandums, and since rattled even his supporters. On his very first day in office, according to CNN reporters, President Trump issued “an executive order aimed at rolling back Obamacare.” Seeing as most of the country relies on this healthcare service, especially the lower class, this was a hard blow to the citizens from a newbie president.
However, as this repeal was heavily mentioned in Trump’s not-so-professional debates and campaign, nobody was very shocked. Because the Obamacare law was passed through Congress, Trump cannot just change it right away. The repeal has many steps, the first being getting the House of Representatives to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act. Trump and his team will have to scramble to find a worthy replacement for Obamacare, however.
On his sixth day, he started figuring out his infamous wall plans, and who is going to pay for it. Although this wall will provide more jobs, it will also mean more deportations of undocumented immigrants. On the same day, he attempted to tackle the “immigrant problem” by adding nearly 10,000 more immigration officers. Right afterwards, Trump passed an order that “prevents refugees from entering the country for 120 days and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority nations out for three months.(CNN)”
This order took the world by surprise, however, the federal appellate court “upheld a trial court ruling temporarily blocking Trump’s travel ban.” He then passed many orders on who those in the government can be affiliated with, how to deal with drug cartels and crime rates, etc.
Trump also signed twelve memorandums, which are smaller with less impact, but still pack a punch. One of the first to be signed was to restrict US funding to non-government affiliated organizations that provided abortions. He also “institut[ed] a freeze on the hiring of new federal workers, except for the military,” and signed a memorandum to make new pipelines(CNN). The president made no move to solve the pipeline problem, and only pushed it further, inducing rage from the whole country and those who are concerned about the environment and global warming.
Instead of prioritizing what the majority of the people want, Trump decided to develop plans for new equipment for the military. He also plans to defeat ISIS in a number of thirty days by cutting off “terror group’s funding,” so, we’ll see how that goes.
The most recent thing Trump has done is a major rollback in trans bathroom rights. With a VP like Mike Pence, who very clearly is not a fan of the LGBT community, it was odd for it to take this long before something hit the community hard. However, this has not stopped the hundreds of deaths and daily harassing of these people who are just being themselves. Now, these young kids, who are already having a hard time with their identity, will have nothing in the way of them being harassed brutally by just using a restroom they feel comfortable with. States now can do whatever they want with their bathrooms, and I feel deeply for those who live in states who are very against anything against the “norm.” Millions of people, children especially, will be scared for their lives in a place that is supposed to be safe for everyone. Some Trump supporters have even gone out to post pictures with their guns, saying how they are ready to “fend off” any trans people they see in the bathrooms.
As a person who believes everyone is equal, it’s horrifying to think of what Trump might do next. We just now started to breakthrough, and finally started to feel safe in our country. Anyone can see that most of the things that he is doing are negatively impacting citizens, and making everyone scared for their lives. But there are still millions of people out there actively protesting and working every day to try and save this country, and we need to focus on them. Help those who you know are scared. Stand up to those guys bullying that trans girl, stand up for everybody. Stand up for what you believe in, for equality. If we work together, we can make it through these four years.
Information provided by CNN.