Trump is a very controversial candidate this election. He can say some demeaning things, and is easy to hate. However, I agree with many of his ideas. First, he does not bow down to so-called ‘political correctness’, defined as “the avoidance, often…taken to extremes, of forms of expression that are perceived to exclude… or insult…people,” according to Google. Disregarding the conventions of political correctness keeps dialogue open and does not censor topics of discussion just because one might feel offended or insulted. It is not productive to go around the world having only comfortable conversations.

Secondly, I agree with his views on illegal immigration. According to the Department of Homeland Security office of Immigration Statistics, over 11 million undocumented immigrants reside in the United States. Census data on undocumented immigrants also reveals that 13.6 percent have committed other crimes during their tenure in the United States, including murder and kidnapping. The department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) estimates that there are more than 1.2 million undocumented immigrants with criminal records at large in the U.S. Trump has reasonable plans to fix our broken immigration system, such as putting up a wall to stop people from coming into the country illegally, similar to Israel’s border wall along the Green Line and Spain’s Melilla border fence. Even “Mañana”, one of Mexico’s largest newspapers, argues that a wall on Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala is a necessity for border security. Additionally, Mr. Trump’s wife Melania had to go through the citizenship process herself, and I believe that this will make Trump want to make the legal citizenship process more accessible.

Moreover, Trump’s idea of temporarily banning immigration from countries that are hotbeds of Islamic radicalism is a strategic way to battle the ever-present threat of terrorism. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has explicitly advised “against all or all but essential travel,” to the city of Kabul, regions of Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq, as well as other Middle Eastern countries due to the high threat of terrorism.  In Iraq, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Morocco more than 80% of the respective Muslim populations favor making Sharia Law their official law. Impermanently withholding immigration from high-risk countries will ensure the safety of our own country because we will be able to take the time to more thoroughly perform security checks and develop better systems for vetting immigrants. Banning immigration to the US based on someone’s religion is clearly unconstitutional, however, if that person is immigrating from a high-risk country, they should be carefully checked and investigated. There have been too many innocent lives lost to Radical Islam,  like in the attacks in Orlando and New York earlier this year. Trump wants to uphold our National security, and that I can get behind.

Furthermore, I think that Trump will do a great job helping minorities due to the fact that conservative values call for equal opportunity and the freedom to better one’s life. Today, there are many laws that ensure equality of opportunity for all Americans regardless of their identities. People need to take personal responsibility for their own lives and take advantage of the opportunities given to them, and Trump will uphold that value of individual responsibility, which I have come to firmly favor due to my middle school experience.

I went to a public middle school in West Oakland. Teachers were there to teach, supplies were there to use, and facilities were there for occupation. Yet, some of my classmates decided to throw away the potential within them. It frustrated me that they did not take charge of their education. I listened, did my work, and graduated. I worked hard. Yet, despite my effort, most of my former classmates associated my success with my being half white, yet race had nothing to do with anyone’s level of academic performance. Those classmates exhibited no personal responsibility at school. Similarly, Trump isn’t scared to hold people accountable for their own failures. He and I believe in the power of the individual and understand that it is one’s own duty to make something out of oneself. The belief of the individual is an aspect of the foundation Trump builds his platform and policies upon. Everyone is given an equal opportunity to succeed, it is the path one chooses to walk that dictates if they will reach their goal or not.

Though agreeing with some of Trump’s tactics is rare at Urban, I think it is important to stand up for what I believe in despite the social consequences. “If you want to be a real human being – a real woman, a real man – you cannot tolerate things which put you to indignation, to outrage. You must stand up. I always say to people, ‘Look around; look at what makes you unhappy, what makes you furious, and then engage yourself in some action,’” says Stephane Hessel. I’m willing to be one of the few conservative voices at Urban because there are few others eager to be.