With the upcoming presidential election, both of the candidates have distinct ideas on how they will serve the people. According to Gallup Polls, 81% of adult voters find healthcare to be an extremely important factor to their vote, 74% say that immigration is, and 55% say that it’s climate change. Here are the stances of the candidates on important policies:

Health Care

Trump: In 2016, Trump pledged to fully repeal Obamacare. However, it has been only partially repealed since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, the individual mandate, required citizens to partake to buy expensive insurance and taxed those who couldn’t afford it. According to Trump’s campaign, this mandate hurt the poor because 80% of those who were affected made less than $50,000 annually, and it was unfair that they were required to pay taxes for Obamacare. 

According to Vox,  Trump amended Title X in 2018, restricting millions of people from access to medical care from Planned Parenthood centers. His administration has sought to limit access to birth control and contraceptive coverage made available from the Affordable Care Act.

“At the moment, Trump needs to have a solid plan regarding the future of healthcare in the United States because in a time like this, where the world is suffering from a pandemic, the U.S. doesn’t have time, money or resources to go into a healthcare debate,” sophomore Sudeep Orvoy said.

Biden: If elected president, Biden will protect the Affordable Care Act and extend coverage to more Americans, including members in the workforce and citizens with low income. In conjunction, he will restore federal funding for Planned Parenthood, a non-profit organization that provides reproductive health care. 

Additionally, Biden seeks to expand the demographics that have access to Medicare, reduce premiums and overall costs by lowering the qualifying age of Medicare to 60 and increase the value of tax credits and by partnering with the health care workforce.

“I strongly support [Biden’s health care plan] because everyone deserves access to health care,” junior Alyssa Dausch said. 

Foreign Policy

Trump: During his first year as president, Trump imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum in order to strengthen domestic metal industries and reduce American reliance on foreign production. In addition, Trump enforced tariffs on approximately $250 billion of Chinese products after investigations conducted by the office of the U.S. Trade Representatives found China guilty of cyber intrusions and trade abuses. 

Other ventures by Trump include the rollback of many Obama-era initiatives, such as Trump’s withdrawal of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was an agreement between 12 countries that promoted trade in order to deepen economic ties.

Also, Trump has built a portion of the wall between the U.S. and Mexico to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing the border. If re-elected, Trump plans to end chain migration and the lottery system for visas in favor of a merit-based immigration system. 

Biden: Biden pledged to reinstate America as an influential global partner in the interests of the middle class. Specifically, he plans to end perpetual wars in Afghanistan and the Middle East through the persecution of Al-Qaeda and ISIS. He will also end U.S. support for the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen, which has led to the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world, according to UNICEF.

Regarding immigration, Biden plans to implement policies that will modernize America’s immigration system, such as ending the mismanagement of the asylum system and ensuring that its applications are being processed fairly. 

According to Biden’s campaign website, Biden will discontinue the construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, since it diverts resources from the U.S. Department of Defense. Furthermore, Biden plans to bring back Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which protects undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. when they were young. Additionally, his website states that he will undo some of Trump’s policies regarding the immigration system, including practices that separate families and deny asylum to those fleeing violence.

 “[Trump’s] treatment of illegal immigrants at the border is disgusting and inhumane,” Dausch said.

Environmental Policy 

Trump:  Under Trump’s environmental agenda, many regulations that former President Obama instituted have been taken down. In 2017, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accord, which is an agreement within the United Nations that addresses greenhouse mitigation and climate change, citing that it imposed unfair taxes on Americans. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, Trump advocates opening all U.S. waters for the drilling of oil and gas; however, many of these policies are still up for debate in court. According to AP News, Trump has publicly acknowledged that humans are partly the reason why there have been frequent weather changes, including factors such as smokestack fumes and tailpipe exhaust. 

“His administration has weakened limits on greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks and the oil and gas industry,” Dausch said. “[Trump’s] inability to believe science and put the environment above the economy in priorities disgusts me.”

Biden: Biden promises that by the year of 2050, the U.S. will reach net-zero emissions,

which will eliminate as much greenhouse gases as possible.

“Climate change is an important topic,” sophomore Eesha Kulkarni said. “Though we may not recognize it, we have seen the impact through the growing number of powerful hurricanes.”

According to The Poynter Institute, Biden’s climate change plan includes a nearly $2  trillion federal investment proposal which will support the private sector and state and local investments for the next ten years. In addition he wants to make the electricity sector free from carbon pollution by 2035, which would create many jobs and reshape the country’s energy in the transportation and infrastructure sectors. 

“We need a president that can guide our country back to the right path and that’s why the election is critical this year,” Orvoy said.