We’re 1,000 Days Into Trump’s Administration – And We’re Still Fighting

Uncategorized 10.16.19

In January 2017, two days before Donald Trump took office, our civil and human rights coalition of more than 200 national organizations released key priorities and our vision for the years ahead – a shared statement of principles on achieving equal justice and opportunity.

As we mark 1,000 days of his administration this week, it’s clear the president had no intention of listening.

Since assuming office, Trump and his administration have taken alarming actions to damage our democracy and our nation’s progress – actions that, together, represent an undeniable contempt for the protection of civil and human rights in America.

We’ve documented the administration’s rollbacks of our rights in a timeline on our website, sometimes updating the page three times in a single day to capture the unacceptable actions that Trump and his appointees have taken to attack our values, deny basic human rights, and demonize entire communities.

Trump Administration Civil and Human Rights Rollbacks
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The offenses have been constant – but so has the pushback from people of conscience across the country and from civil rights organizations that haven’t stopped fighting in the face of adversity.

We can’t forget that Cabinet-level nominees like Andrew Puzder and Mark Green and judicial nominees like Thomas Farr, Ryan Bounds, Jeff Mateer, Brett Talley, and Matthew Petersen were withdrawn from consideration after advocates in our community sounded the alarm. Two summers ago, the administration’s health care plan failed to garner enough congressional votes to move forward. After a long fight, the civil rights community defeated the Trump administration’s dangerous effort to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census – and our efforts continue to ensure a fair and accurate count next year.

And while Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have continued to cram our judiciary with biased judges, federal courts have served as an appropriate and constitutional check on a reckless president – striking down multiple anti-immigrant proposals from the Trump administration in the past week alone.

People across the nation also became engaged in the political process – many for the first time – to challenge the administration’s dangerous initiatives and Congress’ harmful proposals. That energy to protect civil and human rights translated in 2018 into a historically diverse House of Representatives that has been working since January to advance civil rights and hold the Trump administration accountable. And while McConnell has buried this progress in his legislative graveyard, the House is importantly creating a congressional record upon which future sessions of Congress will build. We will be here – ready and willing to work with lawmakers to build an America as good in practice as it is in promise.

After nearly 70 years, our coalition knows that an attack on the civil and human rights of some is an attack on the civil and human rights of all. As long as this administration tries to roll back our hard-fought achievements, we will resist – and will continue to call on political leaders and public officials to support policies that promote inclusion and respect for the basic rights of every person in America.

In 1,000 days, the Trump administration has failed the nation time and again. The nation is watching. The civil and human rights community is watching. And we won’t forget.