1. United States
2. Letter

Dear President Biden, As you are only too well aware, for Americans (half of whom are unaware!) the next 4 years presage a complete breakdown of whatever values the best of America has espoused. But you are still in office till January 20th and have the power to do much before we sink into the depths of the next president’s threats and plans. As the Jewish daughter of immigrants from 1930’s Germany, who were undocumented for years, you have the power to alleviate the stress, for those most immediately threatened. The many immigrants who are here having fled violence in their own countries by fast tracking citizenship applications, reversing the executive order restricting asylum, and expanding work permits for undocumented immigrants. You also have time to assert the moral authority needed to enforce the Leahy Law, which prevents the US from providing military aid to a country that has violated human rights, by halting arms shipments to Israel, hopefully arranging for the return of the hostages, a lasting ceasefire and ending the occupation of Gaza by Israel. You can demand an end to the ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and Israel’s bombing of civilians in Lebanon. Make this happen so that the next president cannot take any credit for ending this war. Do as much as you can for Ukraine before you leave, so that they have a fighting chance to fend off a Russian takeover, before the next president steps onto the stage. You can normalize relations with Cuba, finish what President Obama began, lift the sanctions to help the dire economic situation and close the Guantanamo Bay base which is a blot on US human rights policies. You have done so much and you can do so much more in the next months. I hope you and your administration will move into high gear to improve the lives of so many people who have been adversely affected by US militarism, racism, and raw power projection, which reflects so badly on the American people and diminishes us. And have it be done in your name as the president of the United States.