President Trump’s Year in Review

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By: Richies Tiv, Editor

The applause, the boos. The truth, the fake news. A lot was said during the United States 2016 presidential election, but how much talk is actually being walked?

Executive Order (Immigration Ban):

A week after assuming office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order blocking entry of citizens for at least 90 days from seven countries: Syria, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Libya, Sudan and Yemen.

“I am establishing new vetting measures to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States of America. Don’t want them here,” Trump said according to CNN.

This action was met with both numerous applause and severe opposition.

The appeased viewed this ban as a time for Congress to discuss ways to prevent terrorists from entering the nation while the opposed viewed it as discrimination towards citizens based on their ethnicity.

Regardless, these bans would have immense impacts on visitors, students, workers, immigrants and refugees, barring them from entering the country.

According to the New York Times, two federal judges ruled against these bans and eventually the order was blocked by a federal appeals court.

Consequently, Trump signed a new executive order on March 6.

This new order removed Iraq from the original seven banned countries, continued the 90 day ban, removed the permanent ban on Syrian refugees, allowed people with permanent U.S. residency or visas to enter from the banned countries and halted language as preference for immigration according to CNN.

Protesters congregated in New York a few hours before the travel ban took effect on June 29.

According to Time, more than 100 protesters chanted, “Say it loud, say it clear: immigrants are welcome here!”

Keystone XL pipeline:

The Keystone XL pipeline is meant to deliver oil from Alberta, Canada, to Texas.

On March 24, Trump’s administration approved this construction project contrary to the Obama administration which halted the project.

Trump saw the pipeline as an opportunity to create jobs, but according to CNN, these thousands of jobs would only be temporary and only about 35 would be permanent.

There also remains environmental concerns about the project.

A 2015 study funded by Department of Energy found that the gasoline produced from the pipes would emit 18 percent more greenhouse gases when compared to U.S. crude oil.

Executive Order (Buy American, Hire American):

Trump signed an executive order in hopes to create more American jobs and to increase American products produced on April 18.

According to CNN, the Trump administration claims that the H1-B visa program, which is intended to bring in skilled workers, has been abused: instead of qualified people, under-qualified, low-paid immigrants are supposedly coming and ‘stealing’ jobs.

However, according to Forbes, outsourcing businesses and jobs have kept expenses low and revenue high for businesses.

Will the cost of an iPhone remain the same if the factories are moved to the U.S?

Trump’s presidential campaign relied on three well-known sayings: “lock her up,” “build a wall,” and “drain the swamp.” He has yet to jail Hillary Clinton. He has yet to build a wall. And he fired the FBI director while being investigated.

Trump has, however, passed 42 bills within the first six months of office but according to BBC, many of these are insignificant, including more local actions like renaming a building or appointing new members to a museum board.

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:

Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on December 22, 2017, and it started to take effect on January 1, 2018.

According to the Tax Policy Center, all income groups receive a tax cut, the average being $1,600 in 2018. This tax cut will remain until 2025 for individuals but stay permanent for businesses.

The standard deduction, money that non-itemizers may subtract from their income before an income tax is applied, has been doubled. However, personal exemptions, money deducted from income before it is taxed (such as claims for yourself, spouse, and children), have been eliminated.

The Child Tax Credit has also been doubled from $1,000 to $2,000, allowing individuals to claim credit for having children.

Even though the act seems to help everyone, the tax plan helps businesses more than the average worker according to The Balance. The Tax Policy Center broke down the population based on income to fifths with the top fifth having a 2.9% income increase and the bottom fifth having a 0.4% increase.