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A Running List of Communities Hurt by President Trump
Trump’s policies have caused harm to everyone from farmers to immigrants to LGBTQ+ people
It used to be a political truism in Republican circles that it was bad to be seen as trying to take things away from people. The GOP may have had different ideas than Democrats about how to organize the country, but it was understood that doing things that actively hurt people generally hurt the party, too. Donald Trump has chucked that understanding out the window — along with so many others — during his presidency. As we approach the three-year mark since he took office, the list of people worse off than they were when he began his term has only grown.
Trump has spent a lot of time and energy dismantling the legacy of Barack Obama. He’s rescinded protections for the LGBTQ+ community, deported more people from the interior of the country, and separated families at the border. And while some of his administration’s targets reflect the racist foundations of his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump’s policies have also done harm to the very people he promised to champion, such as farmers and factory workers in the Rust Belt.
Below, a list of eight communities that have been hurt by Trump and his policies.
Americans who rely on food stamps
The Trump administration is implementing new work requirements that will cause at least 688,000 people to lose access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), better known as food stamps. Under current SNAP regulations, able-bodied and childless Americans between the ages of 18 and 49 have to work at least 20 hours a week to retain their benefits, but states can waive this standard for those in high-unemployment areas. Trump’s new rule bans states from creating these waivers unless the areas have a 6% unemployment rate or higher — nearly doubled the national average. A study by the Mathematica Policy Research and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that 97% of SNAP participants who will be affected by the new rule already live in poverty.
Immigrants
Trump has made a hardline anti-immigration agenda the cornerstone of his administration, which is why everyone…
