The days leading up to Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration were busy ones for many of the nation’s social justice organizations.
Civil rights, immigration, education and other groups were busy hosting webinars, issuing press releases and blasting out emails warning about the threats the incoming administration poses to their causes. And it wasn’t lost on any of them that Trump will return to office on Martin Luther King Day.
“At the ACLU, we’re using this rare Inauguration-MLK Day pairing to advocate for our civil rights and civil liberties. While we don’t endorse or oppose candidates for elected office, we recognize that Trump’s re-election will have immense implications for the future of our democratic norms, institutions, and processes,” the civil liberty organization said.
The National Immigration Forum issued flurry of updates ahead of the inauguration, including one about immigrations actions Trump is expected to take in his first 100 days in office, including re-introducing travel bans, limiting refugee resettlement and deploying the military to carry out mass deportations.
Jennie Murray
“Obviously, we have concerns regarding mass deportation plans and at this point we are really appealing for compassion and justice,” NIF President Jennie Murray said during a Jan. 16 Q&A with reporters.
The hope is Trump will prioritize violent criminals and those with existing deportation orders in carrying out mass expulsions of unauthorized immigrants, and that special care will be taken to protect Dreamers, migrants with temporary parole status and those who have become substantial parts of the economy and local communities over many years.
Taking that approach isn’t just the compassionate thing to do but also mirrors the values of most Americans, Murray added. A December survey by the Bullfinch Group found most Americans (67%) want deportations to focus on public safety instead of casting a wider net. That included 60% of Republicans, a significant majority of whom (75%) also said U.S. immigration policy should include dignity and safety for persecuted migrants in addition to border security and enforcement.
“And we know that our business partners are very concerned about these populations and about how ingrained these folks are in our workforce,” she added. “Many of these businesses have been supportive of President-elect Trump in this previous campaign cycle and have weighed in since the election to not prioritize removing these contributors to our economy.”
Leaders from groups such as America’s Voice, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights and United We Dream Action hosted a joint webinar Jan. 16 to announce their determination to oppose the draconian immigration measures anticipated from the Trump administration.
“We know Trump ran on an anti-immigration platform, that our foes are powerful and our friends are too few and far in between,” said Vanessa Cárdenas, executive director of America’s Voice. “We know cruelty and fear is the point of Trump’s agenda, but here are the stubborn facts: Despite what Trump and his team will lead you to believe, immigrants are key to America’s economic growth and prosperity and immigrants have always been an essential ingredient of America’s genius. They are a key part of America’s past. Immigrants are integral to America’s present and future, no matter who sits in the Oval Office.”
Greisa Martínez Rosas
The inauguration serves as yet another reminder of Trump’s pledge to target every undocumented immigrant through raids, detentions and deportations, said Greisa Martínez Rosas, executive director of United We Dream Action. “The immigrant rights movement has never stood on the sidelines when our communities are under attack and this will not be the case now. We demand our elected leaders to put their constituents above political and corporate greed and to reject the blatant political scapegoating and fear mongering by Trump and his administration that they continue to rely on to justify their anti-immigrant policy agenda.”
Angelica Salas
Activists have stepped up advocacy efforts to prepare for Trump’s first day in office, said Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. “The immigrant community of today is not the same as the immigrant community of five, 10 or 15 years ago. What is certain today is that we are more organized, we are more prepared, we are more resilient, united and ready to face the incoming president and his administration.”
The leaders of Historically Black Colleges and Universities are viewing Trump’s second presidency with a degree of ambivalence given the controversies generated by their interactions with his administration the first time around, Inside Higher Ed reported.
“It is sometimes a delicate dance,” said Walter Kimbrough, interim president of Talladega College, in a Jan. 17 article, adding he expects some HBCU presidents to steer clear of “high-profile photo opportunities” with the new administration. But “we have to let our constituents know we have to work with whoever is in the White House. That’s part of the job.”
Still, that leaves HBCU leaders having to carefully weigh when to interact with the White House and when to push back against its policies, Kimbrough said. “We need to be consistent on the things that are good for us to be advocating, and the things that we think are problematic, we need to be brave enough to speak up against those, too.”
The new administration also poses a challenge for universities with significant numbers of international students, Axios reported.
“Trump has vowed to crack down on both illegal and legal immigration, and school leaders are worried one of his first actions could be an executive order limiting entrance to the U.S. like he did with the Muslim Ban in 2017.”
In an email to foreign students shared with Axios, the University of Southern California said arriving on campus before classes begin Jan. 13 “is especially important given that a new presidential administration will take office on January 20, 2025, and — as is common — may issue one or more Executive Orders impacting travel to the U.S. and visa processing.”
The National Education Association proclaimed it is resolved to oppose the implementation of Project 2025, the Christian nationalist blueprint guiding federal efforts to dismantle public education and to bend the government to Trump’s will. “We will be heard at every level of government — from the school board to the Senate — to reject the Project 2025 plan to expand vouchers and gut the (U.S.) Department of Education.”
The organization recalled how former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos pushed vouchers and private schools at the expense of public education during Trump’s first term, and it expects much of the same from education secretary nominee Linda McMahon.
The NEA said she is “unqualified and has an agenda to privatize public education — much like Betsy DeVos before her. McMahon intends to expand voucher programs, which rob our public schools of resources and particularly hurt our most vulnerable students.”
But educators are united in opposing whatever moves the administration makes to dismantle public education, the NEA proclaimed. “Our union — joined by parents and others — stopped Betsy DeVos and Donald Trump before, and — we will do it again. “