Dear reader, as you know election day is approaching soon! The running candidates, President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden are two very different people. The majority of Americans have made up their mind of whom to vote for, but there are still some who have yet to decide. If you’re one of these undecided voters, we will inform you of everything you need to know as to why you should vote for...BIDEN!
Firstly, let’s discuss the importance of why you should vote. Even though your vote isn’t direct, voting can help your preferred candidate to win through the electoral college system. As we can see in our history, there have been many instances where presidential candidates won with a very small margin, such as the 2000 and 2016 elections. This means your vote, along with the votes of others in your district, could change the outcome of the election and help sway the ultimate results! So, if you can vote, then you should make your vote count!
Now that we got the importance of voting out of the way, here are reasons as to how Biden will give additional help and support to the Asian community:
✓ Firstly, Biden will increase AAPI representation in government! He plans to continue with the Obama-Biden Administration’s Initiative on AAPIs and the President’s Advisory Commission on AAPIs. This will ensure that federal agencies consider the AAPI community in creating and implementing federal programs as well as give AAPI community leaders a voice!
✓ Secondly, Biden will Increase AAPI voting participation! He plans on restoring the Voting Rights Act, which outlaws discriminatory voting practices. It also ensures that the Justice Department will challenge state laws that suppress the right to vote! Biden will also support automatic voter registration, same-day voter registration, and other steps to make applying the right to vote easier!
✓ Biden will not only protect and build on the Affordable Care Act but also give Americans the option to purchase a public health insurance option similar to Medicare! He understands the cultural and language barrier between APPIs and their ability to receive health care. Thus, he aims to double the federal funding towards community health centers to expand access to high-quality health care for AAPI populations that need it the most.
✓ Biden prioritizes education, so he will invest in students and schools. Countless parents in the AAPI community can not afford to support or provide their children with the resources to succeed in school, so Biden will work towards delivering aid to those families. He will do so by providing high-quality, universal pre-k for all three and four-year-olds and triple Title I funding, which goes to schools serving a high number of children from low-income families and districts to give access to rigorous coursework across all their schools. Biden also plans to build the best, most innovative schools in the country in AAPI communities while installing English-language learning support systems that will be provided beyond high school.
✓ Biden also cares for the wellness of the future generation, thus, he will make it possible for students to pursue two years of community college or other high-grade training programs without any debt. To do so, he will not only double the maximum value of Pell grants, which will increase the number of middle-class AAPIs who can participate in the program but also raise the grant value for individuals already eligible for Pell! Biden will also halve the payments on undergraduate federal student loans by simplifying and increasing the generosity of today’s income-based repayment program and fix the funding disparities faced by minority-serving institutions!
✓ Now, we see diversity in America everywhere we go, especially in NYC. Many of us also happen to have immigrant parents or even grandparents who would always claim that they were fortunate enough to come to America. Biden understands this concept. Therefore he will accept more immigrants. He will immediately begin working with Congress to pass legislative immigration reform that rectifies our system with a priority on keeping families together by providing a guide to citizenship for nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants—including the 1.7 million from Asia.
✓ Additionally, he will not only increase the number of visas offered for permanent, work-based immigration but also reinstall the DACA program, which protects immigrant youth who came to the United States when they were children from deportation. Biden will also end workplace raids and protect other sensitive locations from immigration enforcement actions and work to create a safe environment where people can freely seek medical attention, go to school, their job, or their place of worship without the fear of an immigration enforcement action.
Lastly, Biden will support Asian businesses! He plans on continuing the State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), which transfers funds to state small business lending initiatives from the Obama-Biden administration through to 2025 and then doubling its federal funding to $3 billion, especially those owned by women and people of color. He’ll also establish a competitive program to supply $5 billion in funding to states for new business startups outside of metropolitan cities.
Now that you have read through ALL of those plans Biden has in mind to do, it is imperative to vote for him! Your vote for Biden will make it one step closer for Biden to accomplish every one of these plans, which benefits everyone, especially minorities and POC! Vote for Biden!
Source: National Geographic https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/why-voting-important/