January 21, 2025
Washington, DC – In response to President Trump’s first day of executive orders, Advancement Project executive director Judith Browne Dianis issued this statement:
“On his first day in office, President Trump has begun his assault on fundamental civil rights by targeting marginalized people in a transparent attempt to take away our power and our voice.
Already, he has attacked immigrant communities by signing an executive order to take away birthright citizenship, a recklessly unconstitutional move. By attempting to deny citizenship to children born on U.S. soil to non-citizen parents, the administration seeks to undermine the 14th amendment and generations of legal precedent. This policy disproportionately impacts immigrant communities and children of color and will immediately be challenged in the courts.
The administration is already trying to diminish efforts to end a history of structural racism carried out by our federal government. Trump rescinded the executive order of President Biden that implemented racial equity initiatives across all agencies, showing how little regard he has for diversity and inclusion.
Likewise, by rescinding President Biden’s executive order on voting rights, which promoted greater voter registration efforts by federal agencies, encouraged communities of color to register to vote, and called for greater transparency in voting, President Trump is taking his first steps to use his power to attack our election system and limit the voices of Black, Latine, AAPI and Indigenous people.
President Trump has also signed an executive order recognizing only two sexes, male and female, in a clear signal threatening the safety of the trans and nonbinary community. The administration’s rationale places our communities in direct danger and criminalizes gender identity while disregarding the dignity and rights of transgender individuals. If enforced, it would require federal prisons to house people based on their sex assigned at birth rather than their gender identity. And we know that incarcerated transgender women are at a higher risk of physical and sexual abuse than other populations.
We’ve seen Trump’s fear mongering actions before. He does not have the power to rewrite the Constitution. Nor can we allow him to pick and choose voters or silence our communities. While President Trump has signaled his administration’s intentions on his first day of office, so have we. We will stand together in the face of these attacks and will not allow any compromises on our dignity, safety or future – our communities are worth fighting for.”
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Advancement Project is a next-generation, multi-racial civil rights organization. Rooted in the great human rights struggles for equality and justice, we exist to fulfill America’s promise of a caring, inclusive and just democracy. We use innovative tools and strategies to strengthen social movements and achieve high impact policy change. We are a co-convener of the National Campaign for Police Free schools, a formation of 20+ youth-led grassroots organizations fighting to end the criminalization of youth in the classroom, create liberatory educational spaces, and implement an affirmative vision of safety and transformative justice.Visit www.advancementproject.org to learn more.
