Last week we asked readers to weigh in after the Nov. 5 election and offer their thoughts on what should come next.

President-elect Donald Trump is already busy naming members of his Cabinet and developing plans for when he takes office in January. The Oklahoma Legislature will be back in session in February.

More: Editorial: Trump will be president. We hope with self-reflection a leader emerges for all.

On the national level, we asked about expectations for a second Trump presidency? What challenges should the president and Congress put first on their priority list?

On the state level, we asked for reader thoughts about more tax cuts, more money appropriated to improve prison conditions, provide more support for health and mental health care agencies and improve public schools.

Here are some of the comments we received:

What Trump should do

You asked what President Trump and the new congress should prioritize. Here is my list:

1. Close the border, we can’t afford massive immigration

2 .Drill, make the U.S. energy independent again and export oil

3. Strangle Iran financially

4. Stop massive spending that caused inflation

5. Back Israel with all they need to defeat Iranian proxies. 

That’s enough though I could go on.

―Richard Perkins, Bethany

More money to improve highways

If 100% of state gasoline tax went to highways we could have better and possibly some new roads instead of being held hostage by the turnpike authority. Another thought would be to eliminate ODOT and hire a decent company to run the highway department. Maybe then every project would not end up with a bottleneck.

―Ken Seibel, Oklahoma City

Eliminate food insecurity

Oklahoma is one of the hungriest states in the nation. We need solutions! Food insecurity in Oklahoma affects all types of citizens: children, seniors, rural communities, and people living in food deserts. This is an important issue, as food insecurity can directly correlate to increased health issues costing our local economy money. Children suffer in school by not being able to focus due to hunger, and lack of economic growth in certain geographic locations. It is believed that Oklahomans facing food insecurity are needing more than $470 million in resources.

I spent two years working at the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma in the childhood hunger programs. I have seen firsthand the impact that after school and summer feeding programs can benefit not only children but their families. Families shared that it was a stress relief knowing their child was being fed a healthy, nutritious meal and not have to worry where dinner was coming from. I have also seen firsthand how the rules and regulations set into place by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE), the governing agencies of said programs, have limited who can participate, leaving out hungry Oklahomans.

Oklahomans deserve better. We must do better! I believe we need to gain support from OSDE to show Governor Stitt the importance of summer feeding programs and the need for Oklahoma to opt-in to the federal Summer EBT (electronic benefit transfer) program. The program would allow eligible households to receive up to $40 per summer month per eligible child. Oklahoma has two food banks in the state, so I believe they also need to lobby and advocate for the program so Governor Stitt has no choice but to opt-in. In July 2024, Gov. Stitt stated he did not opt-in to the program due to not having enough information on it and already giving $20 million in state money to local food banks. I believe if Gov. Stitt met with these families or came to these programs and saw firsthand how it impacts families, he would have to say yes to the program.

Being a social worker means we advocate for all our clients. Social workers see firsthand the impact that food insecurity can have on other aspects of life: work, school, and health. If social workers continue to advocate for a better Oklahoma, we will see a better tomorrow.

―Bethany McGarry, Edmond

More: Rejection of summer food program for kids and Ryan Walters top readers’ letters

Thoughts on the election

Nationally:

For me the top priority was the economy. Lower inflation and trying to bring down current prices. Does no good to lower inflation and keep current elevated grocery (and everything else) prices.

Woman for President:  I have fought the “glass ceiling” for my whole career.  Nothing would please me more than to vote for a strong, intelligent, capable, politically moderate woman for president. Sadly, the two candidates we have had come nowhere near an acceptable candidate given my criteria.

Goal for Trump in my view should be to help people manage by stopping people and drugs at the border, improving the economy for all and improving our defense against China, Russia and Iran.

Oklahoma:

I voted Democratic for state offices because the Republicans have turned on women and are too far right for my taste.  

Goals for our state government should be to stop making hundreds of new laws each year, enforce the ones we have, trust and let women make their own decisions, keep church and state separated and IMPROVE public school education in this state.  I realize that here with such a far-right Legislature, these goals will be hard to reach.  But I can hope. 

 ―Suzanne M. Rogers, Edmond

We’d welcome more of your thoughts. Send your commentary to yourviews@oklahoman.com. Please include your name and hometown.

Gov. Kevin Stitt says Oklahoma will have a plan to deport undocumented immigrants in the custody of state prisons as soon as President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

Saying he didn’t want the state to pay for what he described as the costs of the Biden administration’s open border policy, the Republican governor said he would seek to “expel those serving time in Oklahoma correctional facilities who are in the country illegally.”

Stitt made the announcement in a news release issued Friday, saying he was tapping Public Safety Commissioner Tim Tipton to lead the planning efforts.

“As law and order returns to the White House, Oklahoma will lead the charge with a comprehensive plan to deport those who have committed crimes in Oklahoma while in the country illegally,” Stitt said in the announcement.

“I am still committed to finding ways to pursue state-based workforce visas for those who want to pursue the American dream, but we will not tolerate criminal activity in our state,” the governor said.

Stitt’s announcement said the deportation plans could affect as many as 526 people being housed in Oklahoma Department of Corrections facilities.

The plans quickly attracted criticism and questions.

Rep. Mickey Dollens, D-Oklahoma City, acknowledged that paying to keep undocumented immigrants in state custody could be problematic, but stopped short of supporting Stitt’s plan. “It’s difficult to say I support the governor’s overall idea (and plan) based on a lack of details on how it would be implemented,” he said.

Stitt said he believes Oklahoma’s efforts could serve as a model for other states. But courts have rejected past attempts by Oklahoma officials to address federal immigration issues.

More: Ryan Walters targets immigration, plans for the end of the US DOE in memo

Oklahoma anti-immigration law HB 4156 has faced legal challenges

This year, state lawmakers passed House Bill 4156, a far-reaching measure that aimed to create a state system to regulate immigration.

The bill, which was signed into law by Stitt, makes the first offense for being undocumented in Oklahoma a misdemeanor with jail time of up to a year, or a fine of $500, or both. The second offense would be a felony. The bill would prohibit the ability of the courts or prosecutors to consider probation, delayed or community sentencing, or a future pathway to citizenship. People convicted under the law would have three days after release to leave the state.

That measure, however, was challenged in May by the U.S. Justice Department, which said the bill was an attempt to preempt federal law.

More: Immigrants fear, labor experts worry: How would Trump’s mass deportation promise impact Oklahoma?

“Oklahoma cannot disregard the U.S. Constitution and settled Supreme Court precedent,” Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said. “We have brought this action to ensure that Oklahoma adheres to the Constitution and the framework adopted by Congress for regulation of immigration.”

A short time later, a federal district court judge issued a court order that prohibited the state from enforcing the bill.

The ruling sparked an appeal by Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond. Drummond said the law was “a powerful tool to counter criminal activity largely being fueled by illegal immigrants coming to our state.”

In September, Drummond asked the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver to reverse a lower court’s preliminary injunction that put the law on hold. The measure creates a crime of “impermissible occupation” and allows law enforcement officers to arrest and jail people living in the United States without legal permission.

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“Rather, HB 4156 mirrors federal law by design,” the attorney general’s office said in its brief. “Without a valid cause of action, the United States relied on speculation about how HB 4156 would be implemented, spurious conclusions about the law’s underpinnings, and fundamental misconceptions about a state’s sovereign rights and duties in a federalist system of government.”

Prior to HB 4156, state lawmakers passed House Bill 1804, authored by then-state Rep. Randy Terrill in 2007. That bill eventually had most of its components overturned by a federal judge.

(This is a developing story.)