Firewall For Freedom: States Must Safeguard Our Rights

With the election behind us, many are wondering how to fight back against the unprecedented threats to restrict our rights, which Donald Trump will make good on as soon as he is inaugurated in January.

Though Trump has falsely claimed he is not connected to Project 2025, many of its authors have been unsurprisingly tapped to be a part of his second administration. Project 2025 is a roadmap for limiting our personal freedoms and instead letting bureaucrats and politicians tell us how we have to live.

To push back against this aggressive federal agenda, states and cities must now build firewalls for freedom to ensure its officials do not voluntarily assist in attacking our civil liberties and civil rights — and the ACLU is here to help. We have a playbook primed to defend our fundamental freedoms, which includes comprehensive and necessary tools across reproductive rights, immigration, free speech, and more to uphold our rights in the states where we live. Check below to see how we’re urging states to ensure that individuals’ rights and freedoms aren’t stripped away by federal force.

We are calling on state and local governments to enact policies now that make clear they will not voluntarily share their resources – including personnel and our data – with federal law enforcement seeking to violate the civil rights and civil liberties of our communities. From mass deportations to attempts to criminalize reproductive healthcare and gender-affirming care, the stakes are immense. State and local agencies should just say “no” and refuse to voluntarily cooperate with incursions into civil rights and civil liberties, wherever possible.

Trump is planning large-scale deportation raids that will devastate our communities — disappearing people from their neighborhoods overnight. Children will be left without their parents, families will lose their breadwinners, and fear will ripple through our schools, places of worship and workplaces. We are urging state and local governments to prepare: Convene public and private leaders now and create a protocol for how to respond to these raids — including setting up a hotline, providing pro bono legal assistance, preparing educators and faith leaders to provide support, and surging resources to families left behind. Governors and legislatures should protect immigrant communities through legal assistance funds, pardon processes and, where possible, passing laws limiting collaborating with federal immigration authorities.

Low-income people have consistently borne the brunt of restrictions on abortion care, even when Roe v. Wade was in place. However, the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe immeasurably magnified this problem. Now even more people must travel long distances to obtain an abortion, often having to take time off work and secure childcare. State and municipal funding for abortion care and support services like travel and lodging — including, where possible, by localities in states that restrict the right to abortion — is essential for ensuring abortion seekers are able to access the care they need.

We are urging state legislatures, state attorneys general, state education agencies, city governments and school boards to anticipate the Trump administration’s attacks on our children, including trans kids and children of undocumented parents. They must safeguard student data, stop collecting information that could be weaponized against our communities, and enact policies to ensure our kids are safe and do not suffer from discrimination and harassment at school.

Trump has threatened to turn the powers of our government against the “enemy within” – including by using federal troops to suppress protest or aid in mass deportation. Our nation’s foundational principles separate the military from domestic law enforcement, and these kinds of Trump actions would be abuses of power. We are urging state governors and legislatures to make clear that their state National Guard units will not voluntarily participate in Trump’s plans. Our state leaders can refuse to let the national guard troops under their command and control suppress peaceful protest, or turbocharge immigration raids and detention. State governments can also decline to assist federal troops and federal law enforcement in the commission of rights violations, in certain circumstances.

ACLU affiliates are already asking their governors, attorneys general, mayors and other state and local officials to say no to Trump’s radical agenda. Check out their work below:

Connecticut

Delaware

Massachusetts

Minnesota

New Jersey

New York

Vermont

Washington