President Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim executive order took millions by surprise, with catastrophic consequences across the globe. But there is one organization that’s been watching and anticipating Trump’s every move since he took office in November: the American Civil Liberties Union.
The ACLU filed a lawsuit against Trump before he was officially sworn into office. The next in an apparent series of lawsuits about the unconstitutionality of the deportation of individuals at national airports, were filed Saturday. The group also successfully rallied thousands of people to protest the detainment of countless people at JFK airport, LAX, Boston Logan, and several other airports around the country.
But it’s not stopping there. Anthony Romero, the ACLU’s executive director, recently posted a detailed, seven point strategy of how the ACLU plans to be Trump’s worst nightmare, tirelessly tracking his administration’s every move. “We believe the Trump administration poses the single greatest threat to civil liberties, civil rights, and the rule of law in modern memory,” Romero writes on the ACLU’s site.
Here, GOOD shares the ACLU’s vital 7 point strategy. To donate to their efforts, head to the ACLU’s site here:
1. Demand government accountability and transparency
File Freedom of Information Act requests. Defend whistleblowers and journalists who rely on them.
2. Protect the rights of immigrants
Mount rapid response to immigration raids. File systemic litigation to challenge Fourth Amendment violations and racial profiling in street-level immigration enforcement. Develop legal theories to defend sanctuary cities against federal action. Represent “Dreamers” when their status comes under attack. Bring systemic litigation to challenge excessive and punitive immigration detention. Challenge unconstitutional immigration policies that discriminate against Muslims.
3. Defend reproductive rights
Oppose efforts to defund Planned Parenthood File litigation to challenge any new federal restrictions on abortion access. Challenge laws that permit the use of religion to discriminate by allowing health care providers and social service agencies to turn women away when they seek reproductive health care services or information. Challenge abortion restrictions at the state level through litigation and advocacy. Challenge existing restrictions on abortion that are more vulnerable to challenge following the Supreme Court’s decision in Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt.
4. Protect First Amendment rights
Respond aggressively to threats against Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian (AMEMSA) communities. Expand efforts to defend and inform protestors through know-your-rights materials, provide legal observers at protests and file lawsuits to protect protestors. Fight dragnet government surveillance that sweeps up innocent Americans’ information.
5. Defend LGBT rights
Fight the rescission of federal LGBT protections. Sue the Department of Defense if it reinstates the ban on open military service by transgender people. Oppose religious exemption measures both in state legislatures and Congress that discriminate against LGBT individuals Fight anti-transgender rights bills in Congress and in state legislatures.
6. Defend core civil rights and civil liberties from erosion
Identify, investigate, and challenge the worst police departments for Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment violations. Intervene in federal consent decrees with police departments and private employers regarding racial and gender discrimination. Litigate against the worst voter suppression measures.
7. Mobilize the American people
Deploy our 750,000 card-carrying members in direct citizen action, including protests, petitions, and lobbying. Raise $100 million for a Constitutional Defense Fund in support of this plan — $47 million of which has already been raised The ACLU’s charge, laid out in the Seven-Point Plan, is to stand ready to confront any unconstitutional elements of the administration’s agenda — today and for every day after for the next four years.
