The main issue with national and even international permission to publicly mock Trump is that you very quickly shift the world’s focus onto what we perceive to be his character, as opposed to what his administration means for the people of the United States. His policies are less interesting, less entertaining and more tedious, so perhaps media outlets think it’s easier to just stick to his hair and fake tan.
However, Trump’s call earlier this month to end DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and his other policy plans have brought it home that Trump may not be so funny after all, and it’s up to you to become informed on what the media may not tell you.
What Does the End of DACA Mean?
Earlier this month, Trump moved to end DACA, a program that protects immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. Now, approximately 800,000 undocumented young adults are truly in no man’s land and risk having their work visas revoked, for starters. Uber, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter and other influential Silicon Valley employers may start working toward plans to challenge Trump on this decision, as it directly affects their workforce — including engineers, software technicians and research scientists. Apple, for example, has 250 DACA employees, and Trump’s decision to halt DACA is adversely impacting businesses already.
While there is a possibility DACA may not end, if lobbying efforts and other contestations fail, the U.S. government will not accept any DACA applications or renewals after March 5, 2018. And this is just the worrying start of Trump’s employment law overhaul.
The Start of Something Ugly
Trump’s end to DACA will affect people’s jobs, even if they are not Dreamers themselves, and it implies a general trend toward blatantly going against existing protections for the people of the United States for the benefits of something far less important — profits. And regardless of how repellent Trump’s character is, you want to assume a president always has his citizens’ best interests at heart.
Apparently not. While it is usual and expected for presidents to change policies, within the first 100 days of leadership, Trump is quite pointedly dismantling consumer, labor and environmental protections, as well as defunding studies that might support new rules. The administration reported in July that it plans to change 860 rules, many of which were set in motion during Obama’s presidency, including:
- Protection for laborers — The administration is eliminating rules put in place to make manual labor safer. Policy experts are monitoring this change very closely, as it seems there is also an attempt to undercut rules aimed at improving wages and benefit figures for those close to the poverty line.
- Fair wages for women and minorities — In August, the administration froze the EEO-1 pay data collection rule, which essentially obliges companies with more than 100 workers to reveal pay data by gender and race. The White House is also looking at removing extra pay for more than 4.2 million workers if they work overtime.
- General health and safety — In June, the Department of Labor ended the enforcement of a law limiting laborers’ exposure to beryllium. Beryllium is found to cause a whole host of respiratory illnesses, including lung cancer, as does crystalline silica, which has also been allowed to continue unregulated.
- Protections for consumers — In August, the Department of Labor announced it would delay enforcement of the “best-interest” category of a fiduciary rule, which requires financial advisers to keep their clients’ best interests at the core of their advisements. Hard-earned money by the country’s workforce may suddenly take a turn for the unpredictable.
Yes, this article is criticizing Trump’s policy decisions. However, given his policy plans have so far been blatantly distinctive from previous leaders in that they are making life more difficult for the employed, it is a fair response.
Trump’s policy plans will end up hurting many people’s jobs, even though one of the biggest planks in his campaign platform was his promise to make jobs “great again” in America. With some luck, the move to end DACA will be contested widely and successfully, but it doesn’t mean the workers of America are safe by a long shot.
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