By Anthony D. Romero, ACLU Executive Director
February 8, 2017 | 10:30 AM
…we will go to court to defend the constitutional rights of immigrants
and citizens alike — just like we have these past two weeks.
This is what we do. It’s why the ACLU was created.
The
day Trump took the oath of office we filed a Freedom of Information Act
request demanding any and all government documents that addressed
conflicts of interest and violations of the Emoluments Clause of the
U.S. Constitution. … We are now searching for a
business competitor to Trump who would have standing to challenge the
violation of the Emoluments Clause.
…
During Trump’s first week in office, we filed a constitutional challenge
to Trump’s Muslim ban. We now have several cases challenging its
constitutionality …
Just last week, 50 ACLU affiliates filed coordinated Freedom of
Information Act requests seeking information from Customs and Border
Protection field offices about how the Muslim ban was interpreted and
implemented at airports across the country.
And we have another lawsuit
in the works to file the minute Trump tries to allow federal government
employees and agencies the right to discriminate in the areas of LGBT
and reproductive rights under the guise of religious freedom.
…
We plan to spend over $40 million to build up our state offices. Among
advocacy groups, the ACLU is the only organization with boots on the
ground in every state. … Already, we see anti-reproductive rights laws, anti-immigrant
bills, and anti-Muslim policies being introduced in state legislatures.
…
We are also taking a close look at those states where the politics are
in flux — where our advocacy can be particularly impactful as people go
to the polls to vote in the near future.
…
We also plan to spend over $13 million to build a grassroots
member-mobilization program. With the surge of new members, we now have a
growing army of people who don’t just want to write a check. They want
to join the fight. We will be asking our volunteers and members to join
our team and partner with us to do grassroots calls-to-action, local
town halls, lobby days, acts of protest, and engagement on our core
priorities. Ultimately, we want to have our membership surpass that of
the National Rifle Association. We are now half the size of the NRA, but
with continued growth, mobilization, and activism, we can build an even
bigger force across a broader range of issues.
…
We plan to spend over $21 million to hire new lawyers, advocates, and
other staff in the headquarters of the ACLU to strengthen the core
functioning of the headquarters. We are still the David to the
government’s Goliath. We have 300 litigators on payroll nationwide — 100
of them in our headquarters. The government has over 19,000 lawyers on
its payroll. 11,000 of them belong to Jeff Sessions’ Justice Department
…
Our program/management ratio is 86 percent program, 14 percent management, including fundraising.
…
We are poised to launch a full-throttle response to whatever lies
ahead over the next four years. There is no limit to how big a
resistance to Trump we can build at the ACLU. It has been our history
for over 97 years to fight the worst assaults against justice, equality,
and democracy. It is our mission — our mandate — to rise to that
challenge again.
With your help, we will continue to do so.
Hearseeno 