"Many are struggling to get a sense of what a second Trump presidency will mean for our country and our daily lives. At the ACLU, we know that as the dust settles, we will find ourselves in a new era in our struggle for civil liberties – a period that will bring unprecedented challenges and will require us to band together and build power in new ways. The ACLU has been here before. We are a 105-year-old organization and have fought for constitutional rights during dark and dangerous times in this nation’s history, including filing over 400 legal actions against the first Trump administration. We were the first organization to challenge the Muslim ban and brought the legal challenge that ended child separation.
And we believe Trump when he says he will attempt to deport 1 million people and target the “enemy within” including journalists, a free press, political opponents, and demonstrators. We know that LGBTQI+ rights, abortion access, free speech protections, and racial justice will also be in this administration’s cross hairs and our most cherished constitutional freedoms will be under attack.
Here in Minnesota, we want to reassure you that the ACLU has been planning for this moment. We are ready. We have a blueprint to defend our rights beginning on Inauguration Day, and we’re more prepared than ever to safeguard rights and liberties across the nation. But it is imperative that we get to work immediately to build a firewall for freedom in Minnesota to protect our communities from attacks that will restrict our rights and harm our most vulnerable communities.
As this new era unfolds, remember this: People build institutions to uphold their values. When our institutions are threatened, it is up to us, the people, to remember those vulnerable values, to let those steadfast truths be our grounding, and to work with resolve and discipline to protect them, against all odds. If we don’t, no one else will."