In 2008, the nation was exhilarated when the first black president, Barack Obama, was elected. Eight years later, it is time to say goodbye to the Obama presidency and prepare for Trump’s.  As the world gets ready for a new presidency, the country has been split by the political parties. Democrats defend President Obama and Republicans are eager to be rid of Obama, and the policies that he passed while in office.

Democrats are concerned about how Obama’s legacy might be completely dismantled. Republicans are ready to repeal Obama’s policies and have also claimed that he didn’t accomplish much during his term. During Obama’s presidency, however,  the Affordable Care Act was placed, relations with Cuba were placated, same-sex marriage was legalized, and peaceful settlement with Iran was found.

Junior Oluwadamilola Aluko said, “I’m excited for what Trump is going to do with foreign policy.  He’s an outsider and Washington needs that. Obama’s presidency was not bad by any means, it’s just that I feel as though he lost control of what was really important.”

Trump has promised to deport more than 10 million undocumented immigrants, put a country-wide ban on all Muslims and decreasing the amount of immigrants that come to the U.S each year.

Junior Adishi Ranjan said, “I’m a daughter of Indian immigrants and to hear that Trump wants to lessen the amount of immigrants that are entering the country worries me. I have family in India that hoped to come here for school one day but I don’t know when that will happen now.”

Currently, approximately 12 million Americans use Obamacare. By repealing the plan, many Americans will not have access to health care. The plan also helped those who have preexisting conditions.

Anonymous said, “People always complain about Obamacare but it’s for families like mine that it helps. My family didn’t have healthcare before because it was too expensive and after Obama did pass the bill, we were able to have access to healthcare.”

For some people, Obama leaving office has had a very strong impact.  

Senior Arielle Fernando said, “I don’t even remember a time when Obama wasn’t president. I was 9 years old when he was elected and have looked up to him since. He was the president that I could recall always being there and for me, it was normal to have a man who embraced equality among all races.”

Other people fear what other negative changes that a Trump presidency might bring to the nation. Trump has said that he has great respect for the LGBT community, but has said that he plans to reverse Obama’s equal marriage law. 

Senior Brendan Moran said, “I understand that he is now the President of the United States and I do respect the position, but I do not agree with any of his policies. In the stance of marriage equality, I think he is more open to equal marriage than VP Mike Pence, but he is still a part of the Republican Party and they don’t believe in marriage equality. Already if you go on the white house website, you can see that all the links to marriage equality have been removed. I think it’s only a matter of time before Trump decides to try and revoke this law.”

With Trump’s election win, tensions in America have been rising. Protests have been taking place and led to hundreds of arrests and many injured. Trump is getting ready to take office on January 21 and Democrats are worried more than ever that all the progress that has been made in the last eight years might be removed.