With the 2020 Election Day just around the corner, I can’t help but wonder and even worry for my future. Especially after the inauguration of the new Supreme Court Justice, America doesn’t seem like a safe haven anymore. With the United States divided into politically opposing groups, what’s to come for America?

I wish this question was easy to answer, but it’s really not black and white. I never really understood the importance of voting and being vocal about political subjects up until the 2016 election with Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. During previous elections, I was not old enough to fully grasp the idea of voting and how important and powerful a president is. My parents also didn’t understand voting, as they grew up in a society where you had no choice, in a country of extreme communism. After the inauguration of Donald Trump in 2016, I can recall my teachers in school discussing the policies and enforcements he wanted to enact in America. “He wants to build a wall between Mexico and the United States.” “Trump doesn’t believe in global warming [climate change].” The people around me gave off a worrisome aura, except those that did choose to put him into office. 

Surely enough, he became a nightmare to people, especially minority groups. Immigrants from all over the globe, including Mexico, China, and many more, became fearful of his new laws on immigration. He planned to redact DACA, an American system that allows children to pursue their education in the United States. This ultimately led to many students being forced back to their home country, leaving those hopeless and devastated that an institution that was supposed to ensure their right to an education was stripped away. ICE (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement) also was given a new transformation under Trump. There seemed to be more immigrants being locked away into cells, more families being stripped apart, and more people being sent and forced away from the United States. Now in 2020, DACA is no longer accepting any new candidates for their program, cutting off all opportunities for a way to obtain easy access to education for immigrants.

When former president Barack Obama was in office from 2008-2016, he implicated a new system for affordable healthcare for all, Obamacare. This allowed and provided healthcare for all Americans at a low cost. Such conditions, like cancer, came with expensive hospital and treatment bills, which led many patients to refuse proper medications and therapies before Obamacare. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump had planned to eradicate Obamacare for a new healthcare system, Trumpcare. With millions of Americans unemployed during a global pandemic, Trump planned to impose a healthcare institution that would eliminate affordable healthcare for Americans. COVID-19 cases, at this point in time, were still growing exponentially and climbing up in number of cases. 

Planned Parenthood, a nonprofit organization that helps to provide reproductive health care and aid to both men and women. Nearly 1 in 3 women had trouble affording birth control and now with Trump imposing a new healthcare system, women are struggling to seek reproductive attention. And with the new Supreme Court Justice, Amy Coney Barret, the case of Roe v. Wade is now a new topic among Americans. It allowed women the right to abortion without government intervention. It went on to become a landmark for women’s rights and allowed millions of women reproductive rights, legally. However, with Trumps’ plans to make abortion unlawful in the United States, Planned Parenthood and other organizations spoke out against this and fought for their right to continue providing reproductive and sexual healthcare for women and men. 

After just less than six months into office, Trump had taken the United States off of the Paris Agreement. This is a global agreement amongst a multitude of countries to reduce gas emissions into the atmosphere. With Trump signing the United States off of the agreement, climate change is now in hot fire. Environmentally, America deals with wildfires, hurricanes, floodings and many other devastating natural disasters. They all are a result from climate change and excessive use of gas and fuels. Trump promotes the use of coal and fuel, which all damages the environment greatly, for economic success in the United States. In this years’ summer, the west coast of America faced detrimental wildfires that left millions without homes and businesses. Experts say that the Earth’s temperature is getting warmer as each year passes, mainly due to climate change and the use of fossil fuels. 

With the upcoming election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden less than a week away, where does America’s future stand? That is all decided on November 3rd, but until then I hope anyone who is eligible, to go vote! Go! Go do it now!