President Trump has had an unconventional election campaign, to say the least. He made many promises — some of them seemingly outrageous — during his campaign. Even though he is now the leader of the free world, there are still certain things he can and cannot do.
Below, VOX breaks it all down for you.
Sending Blacks Back to Africa
Trump cannot legally send black people and/or African Americans back to Africa. Not all black people are from Africa. Even though African Americans may have ancestors from Africa, some people no longer have any ties to the African continent. Besides, you cannot just send groups of people back to a place if they are American citizens, even if they are black.
Getting Rid of Obamacare/ The Affordable Care Act (ACA)
Donald Trump cannot simply say, “I don’t like this law. We are going to remove it since I’m president.” That is why there is a system of checks and balances in place — to make sure any branch of federal government can’t have overall power. President Trump can spearhead a process of repealing or changing the ACA. Congress actually has to vote and decide. (The New York Times gives all kinds of details about that here.)
Defunding Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood is a nonprofit organization that provides health care, resources and education about reproductive health to women — especially low-income people — around the country. Again, President Trump cannot just wave his finger and automatically take away federal funding of Planned Parenthood. His administration can (and does) say they want to eliminate government funding for the organization, and Congress can vote on whether they believe they should.
Building a Wall and Making Mexico Pay for it
This week, the president signed an executive order signaling his intent to build a wall along the U.S. Mexican border. Ultimately, Congress would have vote on building a new wall. The United States and Mexico would also have to make an agreement on building a new wall and paying for it together. This week, Mexico’s president Enrique Pena Nieto announced again that his country won’t pay for a wall and called the White House to cancel next week’s planned meeting with Trump. If Mexico does not want to pay for a new wall, Congress would have to find the funds to pay for it.
Bringing Back Slavery
President Trump cannot make anybody work against their will. Congress would have to ratify the constitution because the Thirteenth Amendment clearly abolishes slavery.
Deporting All Illegal Immigrants
President Trump can try to deport all of the 11 million illegal immigrants, but that would take time. He also has stated that he will not deport all of the people who are here illegally, only the people who have criminal records.
As you can see, in most cases Congress has to vote for most processes to begin. One thing to remember is that both the House of Representatives and the Senate are majority Republican. However, a majority Republican Congress does not mean unanimous support for President Trump’s decisions. Here are some links where you can read more about Donald Trump’s campaign promises.
- theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/trump-promises-cheat-sheet/507347/
- bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37982000
- washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-promise-tracker/
Keana, 19, is VOX’s news and features teen editor.
