Seby Shuken ’18

After almost three weeks since Donald Trump’s inauguration there have been some big changes in the White House. While many may have heard of some of his actions, here is what he has done so far in office.
One of his most recent executive orders is to stop the flow of immigrants from seven countries including Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. He characterized this executive order as an extreme vetting plan to keep out “radical Islamic terrorists”.

Many students at Staples have expressed disagreement with President Trump on his order due to its unconstitutional nature. “It’s completely unconstitutional because it targets muslims in particular. It is also endangering American lives because bans like these feed into the strength of terrorist groups.” Thomas Quigley ’18 remarked.

While doing this, he ordered that people from those Muslim majority countries will be restricted from entering the United States. Trump only created this order for 120 days, making it a temporary ban on immigration from these countries.

Another executive action Trump has implemented is reinstating “global gag rule” for abortions, which states that there should be no federal funding for non-governmental organizations that provide funding for abortion counseling and women’s health related procedures.

“I disagree with Trump’s executive order because I feel that women should have the ability to have an abortion or get birth control even if they can’t afford it,” Alyssa Hyman ’18 said. “His order is taking away the ability for women especially in low income communities to do so.”

Not only does this executive action affect American family planning programs such as Planned Parenthood, but it also limits the funding of international women’s health organizations. According to BBC, this action is estimated to hurt women living in impoverished neighborhoods with a heavy reliance on these organizations for their health or abortions.

During the election, Trump repeatedly told the American public that he would get out of the Trans-Pacific-Partnership. This was a trade agreement which Trump found unfavorable because of the ‘bad deal’ it had created for the United States. It’s no surprise that this was one of Trump’s first executive orders that defied Obama’s agenda.

One of the most controversial and divisive decisions is his appointment of Neil Gorsuch to fill the seat of Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. This comes with great defiance from Democrats who remain angered from the Republicans’ blocking of Obama’s Supreme Court pick Merrick Garland.

“The good thing about Trump’s pick is he’s qualified. And he’s a conservative filling a conservative seat so it’s not horrible. But the Democrats should definitely look into him and fight back to get someone more moderate.” Olivia Payne ’18 President of the Young Democrats Club said.