Dear Next President of the United States,

     This election has been quite a heated and controversial one overall. Many different issues in society are splitting the people of our nation apart depending on the stance that one decides to take, so I thought that I would write to let you know the perspective of a student in high school and what I personally believe is important when it comes to the aforementioned issues.

     First off, I wanted to discuss the topic of immigration. There has been a lot of talk about this one ever since the beginning. With this, a number of different options and solutions have presented themselves. I can understand concerns over things like terrorism and drugs to a certain extent, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we can treat immigration like its the worst thing to happen to our country in recent years. However, on the opposite side of the spectrum, having completely open borders would still stir up some trouble. There needs to be some kind of middle-ground so that people who would like to immigrate are allowed to do so, but not so much that we allow people to come over here illegally and if they are actually dangerous people. We also want to make sure that immigrants receive fair treatment as well. Forcing immigrants into work that doesn’t pay the right amount wasn’t something that implied America is the land of freedom and equality like we boast it is. The citizenship tests that are required of incoming immigrants are also very unfair seeing as how most of us born and raised in America don’t even know the answers to most of those questions ourselves. There are many out there who are against anti-immigration laws which can be seen in various outbursts in the form of social media posts or even political cartoons that parody the idea. This idea has evolved for the better, just like we have. We don’t want a repeat of the event that transpired again all those years ago.

     I also want to discuss my views on abortion while I have your attention. Abortion should not be the decision of the government, it should be the decision of the person or people that are involved. Saying that women should not be allowed to make that decision implies that they aren’t smart enough to think for themselves which just isn’t right in my eyes. The main argument against abortion is that you are killing a life. I disagree with this, as most abortions don’t happen when the baby is fully developed. If the child cannot survive out of the mother’s womb then it isn’t a life yet. Another thing that’s often brought up is religious beliefs and how they relate to the subject. Just because the bible says things like “thou shalt not kill,” people claim abortion is wrong. In my opinion, religious beliefs should not interfere with these political issues. The bible also has verses that allude to racism and homophobia, so I say that we should take it with a grain of salt. Maybe it’s my atheist mind speaking out on that regard, but it all plays into how we should receive equal treatment.

     I would like to request that you at the very least keep all of this in mind. I’ve been very uncharacteristically invested in this election, specifically because of these issues and more. I feel as though these things can be fixed one way or another, and that will be up to you in the very near future. Thank you for your time in reading this letter.

-Xavier, High School Junior