For many, the dominant mood following former President Donald Trump’s comeback on Election Night has been a cycle of worry, bitterness, and despair — emotions that have as rightful a place as any in this moment.
Yet the shock of this time is also what will form the bedrock of all that needs to be done in the coming months.
In time, consider another angle of Election Night. It was the night the starting gun went off on surviving the next four years for those most under attack by Trump. And, it was the night people began to double down, find ways to meet their communities’ needs, build new systems of support, and fight for their rights as hard as ever.
So, what could be coming next? More importantly, what steps should be taken to protect and take care of yourself, your loved ones, and your neighbors? Read on for insight from the URL Media network and other experts’ guidance.
Immigration
What’s at stake?
Much of Trump’s campaign rallied around vilifying anyone without U.S. citizenship. He has made it clear that once in office, he will seek to end federal protections for immigrants, asylum seekers and their children, all while planning a massive deportation process that could cost $88 billion per year, the American Immigration Council estimated.
What can you do?
First and foremost, if you, a family member, or a friend are worried about immigration status, there are some steps to take now to get ahead of Trump’s inauguration in January.
Apply for a work permit, even if you don’t plan on working — kids, too. If you already have one and it expires before 2028, apply to renew it now. Work permits are free and serve a useful role as identification that opens other doors too, like applying for a driver’s license or social security number, according to the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project.
Anyone who has applied for asylum should also look into applying for other eligible immigration statuses while they wait, including Temporary Protected Status, Deferred Enforced Departure, and U-Visas. Taking these steps now before the new administration arrives is a smart move, because having an application already submitted could boost applicants’ chances or mean certain policy changes don’t apply to them, ASAP explained.
For more resources, check out this post-election guide from Documented, and trainings and events with the Immigration Advocates Network.
For people with citizenship, it’s a good time to find out your elected representatives’ stances on immigration, and contact them if you disagree.
However, this moment cannot be met inside the government alone; supporting your community from the ground up, whether through advocacy groups or other mutual aid networks, is essential.
That direction has always been clear for Adama Bah, CEO and founder of Afrikana, a New York City nonprofit that builds community and provides services for immigrants. The organization serves new arrivals and longtime residents alike.
“Immigration … is always going to be used as a political pawn,” Bah said in an interview with URL Media. “Especially when the immigrants that are coming are Black and Brown people.”
“They need an enemy,” she continued. “They need to prove why they need to run for office. And they’re using asylum seekers as a scapegoat.”
Bah, who grew up in a multi-status family as an undocumented child, is all too familiar with the U.S. immigration system. She created Afrikana to fill in the gaps in services she saw firsthand, from food, clothes, and housing, to legal aid, translation, and mental health resources.
The group is based in Harlem, and serves NYC residents in the Bronx and Brooklyn as well, with a focus on providing direct services over referring people out to other organizations or institutions. In other words, when the group meets new people, they learn their needs and help directly all in one place, rather than scattering people across the city.
“It’s a different model from what other people have been doing,” Bah explained. “Organizations don’t have the capacity to service everyone, and that’s understandable. But the thing is that if we constantly keep referring people out, then we’re gonna cause this never-ending circle that’s not working properly because people keep coming back to us.”
Since Trump’s reelection, Bah has felt the tensions rise around her. Nerves and uncertainty are high, and Afrikana doesn’t have all the answers and solutions. Still, she’s committed to figuring out how to best support the community during this time, especially for the most vulnerable.
“I feel like people are gonna argue about who matters,” she said. “We just have to wait and see what happens.”
Given the threats of deportation, Bah recommends preparing for any outcome with a strong game plan. If a parent gets taken into custody, who will pick up kids from school? What will someone who is disabled or neurodivergent need in the worst-case scenario? Or pregnant people and new mothers?
“I’ve been doing immigration for years, so it’s nothing new,” she reflected. “It’s the same kind of protocols we’ve always had.”
The economy
What’s at stake?
Trump swayed many voters with promised change around inflation, housing, and other economic conditions. However, he plans to increase import tariffs across the board, which alone could raise prices more than the benefit of other potential policies, PolitiFact reported.
His stance on immigration is also likely to harm the economy, as deportations would deepen labor shortages in agriculture and construction, making both groceries and homes more expensive, according to MarketWatch.
No matter where economic conditions go in the next four years, many will face high costs of living and barriers to saving either way. Trump has promised a lot to working people, but, as India Currents reminds their readers, will anything actually change?
What can you do?
Luckily, experts have advice on how to build wealth for yourself by focusing on what you can control to address your needs today and on a generational level.
Lea Landaverde, better known as the Latina Wealth Activist, is especially focused on financial literacy and empowerment for young communities who have fear, anxiety, and trauma around money.
She founded Riqueza, a collective where she focuses on “bridging the wealth gap and pushing for financial equity to marginalized communities through activism, education, community and wellness,” the company’s website states.
Landaverde recommends locking down two key basics: how you save and spend, and where your debt stands. To support anyone who wants to work on these essentials, she has created a beginner’s budget template, and a debt payoff calculator.
The founder has also authored “Protect the Bag 2025,” a 60+ page guide to your finances in the year ahead. It covers everything from your mindset and goal-setting to your money education and strategy-building. It also includes tips for growing and protecting your assets to ensure financial freedom in the long term.
Plus, the best way to break the ice around money can be to talk about it with someone who steers you in the right direction. Landaverde’s social media is full of these conversation starters, and she also offers personalized coaching sessions.
Health and wellness
What’s at stake?
Trump’s second term may damage the Affordable Care Act and Social Security over time. Down the line, that could mean a higher rate of uninsured people and lower benefit payouts, respectively, according to PolitiFact.
Other potential policies would decrease economic opportunity, increase incarceration, and lower access to housing — all significant threats to Black mental and physical health outcomes, Capital B reported.
As for reproductive rights, Trump is poised to let states do as they wish in a post-Roe v. Wade nation. He said during the campaign that he will not approve a national abortion ban or restrict sending abortion pills by mail. However, he sang a different tune during his first presidency on national bans, and took steps to restrict federal funding for organizations like Planned Parenthood, per PolitiFact.
Gender-affirming care is also likely to remain under fire from all sides in Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court will decide the legality of a Tennessee law that blocks minors from receiving care, while Trump may repeal a Biden Administration law that protects against discrimination in health care, and push for similar actions in Congress, PolitiFact reported.
What can you do?
On a physical level, these policies mean it could be wise to take preventative measures for your health now — especially for those in states where procedures or treatments are at risk.
What other shots, appointments, or other care routines are you behind on? Anything from your health care to-do list you could get a jump on before the new year? It could help you stay physically ahead of any changes Trump, his Cabinet, Congress or the courts may make come 2025.
On the other hand, mental well-being is already a pressing health outcome of the election. With so much at stake — including policies that would directly impact people’s care and bodily autonomy — mental health professionals are seeing this as a real watershed moment.
“How do we move through a community that’s divided in so many ways? How do we do that safely?” asked Minaxi Patel, a licensed therapist in Bakersfield, Calif., in an interview with URL Media. “Because this election felt so personal.”
Over the last month, Patel has witnessed the arc of emotions week by week in her clients, who include trans youth and their parents, as well as Black and Latino individuals.
She does not bring up politics in sessions unless prompted, but it has been a frequent area of processing. Initial disbelief subsided into grief and loss, while feelings of fear and helplessness ran throughout — particularly on the heels of the hateful rhetoric flung during the campaign.
The dominant question now is, ‘What happens next?’ Yet Patel also tries to illuminate another question for her clients of, ‘What do I get to do?’ Remembering that one can still be in community with others and spend time with loved ones as a way to stay grounded, she said.
“Where do we sit with at least a little bit of empowerment when things feel so out of control?” she asked. “Especially when it feels so big, I tend to bring it really small.”
For Patel’s practice, this looks like prioritizing the basics: taking a little walk, playing with your pets, and listening to your favorite music. It also means being intentional with your time, from practicing breathing exercises to limiting how much you are on social media.
As for living day to day in a divided country, state, or city, Patel advises her clients to focus on boundaries. Knowing when to walk away from a conversation and making choices that maintain one’s values can go a long way, she explained.
For Black Americans in particular, practicing rest and self-compassion in the face of “resistance fatigue” is also crucial, Raquel Martin, assistant professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences and Counseling at Tennessee State University, told Capital B.
Moving forward
No one knows how many of these campaign trail promises Trump can keep — and there are plenty more to ponder — but his support from Republican majorities in both houses of Congress and the Supreme Court is certainly daunting.
Whatever lies ahead, it’s clear that the safety, financial freedom, physical health, and mental well-being of marginalized communities will be threatened in some way.
As that reality of this election sinks in, political analyses won’t move communities forward. It’s not blanket generalizations, as El Tecolote argued, or pointing fingers and spreading myths, as Scalawag called out.
But how communities engage, person by person, and build relationships and resources will.