Editor’s Note: This is one story in a series of stories over the November elections.
By Jadynne Brady
Editor-in-Chief
As November arrives, election tensions have risen higher and higher.
Candidates Vice President Kamala Harris, running with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and former President Donald Trump, with Senator JD Vance, have been campaigning in swing states like Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Georgia. Currently, both candidates are in a dead heat in the polls.
The key issues that voters have emphasized is the economy, immigration, reproductive rights, crime/gun violence, and foreign policy. All of the information about candidate positions has been taken from ABCNews.com.
President Trump has pledged to cut costs by drilling for oil in the United States and lowering the price of gas. He also said he would lower the national debt, get rid of regulations, and give tax breaks to corporations and implement tariffs.
Harris, on the other hand, has presented an economic plan, an “opportunity economy”, that includes $25,000 in down-payment support for first-time homeowners, construction of 3 million new housing units, raising the federal minimum wage and a federal ban on corporate price-gouging on food and groceries.
For the issue of immigration, Trump plans on finishing the wall on the border between the U.S. and Mexico, to revive “Stay in Mexico,” which requires immigrants seeking asylum to remain in Mexico until their US immigration court date, and he plans to initiate the “largest domestic deportation operation in American history” for illegal immigrants. He has also pledged to end birthright citizenship.
Harris has promised to sign legislation that would reinforce asylum rules while also boosting the legal pathways for immigration.
Trump originally supported a nationwide ban on abortion and reproductive rights, but later said it should be up to the states to decide. If elected, he said it would be mandated to pay for all costs associated with IVF (in vitro fertilization).
In contrast, Harris has called on Congress to protect abortion rights, and she also supports IVF.
In the context of shootings, Trump has blamed mental health rather than the guns and has not indicated that he would implement gun control if elected. Also, he has pledged to continue funding law enforcement.
Harris has called for red-flag laws, which are gun confiscation laws that allow for some firearms to be confiscated from people who are a threat to themselves and others, universal background checks, and ban on assault weapons.
In foreign policy, Trump has said he would cut back on U.S. support for Ukraine in the Russia-Ukraine war and has supported Israel in the Israel-Hamas war while calling for a fast end to the war.
Harris has said she would continue to support Ukraine and NATO in the Russia-Ukraine war and said she would protect the U.S. from Iranian terrorist groups. She supports Israel safety in the Israel-Hamas war, while also sympathizing with the citizens in Gaza. She has called for a cease-fire in the war and to have hostages returned.
