An update on America

A new citizen holds a U.S. flag at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) naturalization ceremony at the New York Public Library in Manhattan, New York, U.S., July 3, 2018. (REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton)

Citizenship

Gold cards have been a recent addition to immigration policies, meant to allow foreigners to buy a path to citizenship for the price of approximately $5 million. This new policy will fundamentally bring in wealthy foreigners and job creators, President Donald Trump said. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the new process is meant to replace the EB-5 Visa system, according to CBS News. In order to receive the gold card, paying the $5 million is not the only criterion. Applicants will go through vetting to determine whether or not they are good candidates for residency in the U.S. “It's a road to citizenship for people and essentially people of wealth or great talent, where people of wealth pay for those people of talent to get in,” Trump said, according to USA Today.
A view of the U.S. Department of Education building in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 1, 2025. (REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon)

Education

Diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, is a term used in academic and workplace settings to refer to policies meant to level the playing field for people from historically disadvantaged backgrounds, according to NBC News. However, critics claim DEI has been used to inappropriately boost certain students or employees based solely on their race or gender. The Trump administration threatened to cut federal funding from public schools with DEI programs, according to NPR. The U.S. Department of Education said these actions follow President Trump’s commitment to end illegal discrimination and wasteful spending across the federal government as the first step in reorienting the agency toward meaningful learning. States had to sign and submit a certification form saying each of their districts does not give advantages to people based on their race, and the form warns states or individual schools could be forced to pay back funds if they’re found to violate the law, according to NBC News.
Signage at the headquarters of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 18, 2025. (REUTERS/Kent Nishimura)

Environment

President Donald Trump signed a letter to the United Nations to notify the world body of the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, Jan. 20. The Paris Agreement sets long-term goals to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and “provide financing to developing countries to mitigate climate change, strengthen resilience and enhance abilities to adapt to climate impacts,” according to United Nations. The U.S. will join Iran, Libya and Yemen as the only countries outside of the agreement. The withdrawal will become official one year after the submission of the letter, according to The New York Times. Trump’s executive order said these agreements "do not reflect our country's values or our contributions to the pursuit of economic and environmental objectives" and “steer American taxpayer dollars to countries that do not require, or merit, financial assistance in the interests of the American people,” according to The White House.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., U.S. President Trump’s nominee to be secretary of Health and Human Services, testifies before a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 30, 2025. (REUTERS/Nathan Howard)

Health Department

Health policies such as chronic disease and vaccination research have been under investigation since President Trump took office, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has overseen the process as the newly appointed Secretary of Health and Human Services. In his testimony Jan. 29 before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions related to chronic diseases, Kennedy said the U.S Health and Human Services “devoted all of these dollars ($8.1 billion) to infectious disease and to drug development and very little to chronic disease,” according to NBC News. RFK said these chronic diseases impact children and “stated that 66% of kids have a chronic condition.” Relating to this statement, he said public health funding should be focused on research against chronic illnesses more than the battle against infectious diseases. Some experts on these health policies disagree with “Kennedy’s notion that infectious disease research is funded at the expense of chronic disease,” according to the same article. Currently these statements are still being reviewed in order to take the best course of action and decide what studies need to be focused on.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 2, 2025. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria)

Tariffs

President Trump revealed his plan to implement new tariffs affecting about 90 countries, April 2. According to NBC News, this policy “is an effort to impose sweeping changes on decades-old trading arrangements.” The intended effect of this change was to balance tariffs and U.S. trade with other countries, especially China, according to the Wall Street Journal. The article also stated the goal of this arrangement is to “put a dent in China’s economy and force its government to the negotiating table with the U.S.” According to BBC News, Trump says these taxes will help the American economy by encouraging citizens to buy from the U.S. Economists who share alternate views are concerned about the impact of these tariffs, one being a writer from CSIS saying there will be four main outcomes: lack of trust, prices going up, shortages and “a sign of declining confidence in the dollar and in the United States as the safest haven for investors.” Though it is too early to determine the exact effects of these taxes, many opposing viewpoints are distinguished throughout the media.

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An update on America

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