Since the 2016 election specifically, I have become increasingly disappointed in the American population for people's bigotry and immorality. I have also been learning more since 2016 about America's past and present racism and colonialism, and I am increasingly attentive to racist and colonialist discourse in politics and news. I immigrated to America at a young age, and I have never been patriotic towards America (e.g. refused to say or stand for the Pledge of Allegiance since elementary school), but it is only in recent years that I have become informed about its failings.

I was a U.S. green card holder at the time of the 2016 election, and I fully intended to stay a permanent resident and not a citizen for my whole life. After the 2016 election, I began to fear for my immigration status for the first time in my life. I started the citizenship process soon after the election and am a U.S. citizen now. I am still sometimes worried about my citizenship status, especially since I know that naturalized South Asian American citizens have had their citizenship revoked in U.S. history, and I sometimes remind my natural-born American husband where my immigration papers are if I was ever questioned or detained.

The 2020 election cycle is the most involved I have been in an election cycle. I plan to vote for Biden, but I would want to remember how many more progressive candidates were running during the primaries. I was more excited about Julián Castro than I have ever been about an elected official before, and I voted for Elizabeth Warren in the primary. I would want it remembered that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris do not fully represent the more progressive desires among voters.

I have worked to become more involved in local and national politics since becoming a citizen in response to the policies of the Trump administration. I can't pick a small subset of issues that motivate me to vote, but I want to be part of pushing for progressive change in my region and in this country. I carefully research all the people on my ballot so I can make an informed choice. Becoming a citizen so recently makes me take my right to vote very seriously. I also worry about voter suppression because my race is listed as "Multiple" on my voter registration card (since I am biracial), and I have already twice had delays in processing my voting information/requests (as compared to my husband whose race is listed as "White"), so I am extra vigilant about preparing to be able to vote.

I really am hopeful that Biden will be elected as president during the 2020 election. I know that his election wouldn't be a cure-all to so many issues that we continue to face in this country, but it would be a step in the right direction. It frightens me to think that we could have another four years of Trump. But I know that the grassroots organizers in my community wouldn't stop working, and in that worst case scenario I would only hope that there would be a correspondingly huge swell of progressive activism on the ground.