The ACLU filed 434 legal challenges against Trump during his first term
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The executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union pledged "to combat" the forthcoming Trump administration's proposed policies on critical issues such as abortion, border security and LGBTQ rights.
"We know that a second Trump administration will be even more aggressive and effective than it was before," Anthony Romero, the group's executive director, said in an open letter published on the ACLU's website. "The Trump administration’s anti-liberty and fundamentally anti-American policies will be met with the full firepower of the ACLU."
The left-wing civil liberties organization launched 434 legal challenges against President Trump during his first term, and these challenges will continue during his second term, according to Romero's open letter. They plan, for example, to use the courts to "invalidate Trump administration policies" impacting the gay and transgender communities, such as actions that keep biological males out of women's bathrooms or that prevent them from playing on women's sports teams.
Anthony D. Romero speaks at the ACLU National Conference on June 11, 2018, in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)
The ACLU also plans to hone in on challenges to Trump's efforts to deport illegal immigrants residing in the U.S., and any attempts by the new president to restrict abortion.
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During Trump's first term, the ACLU spearheaded efforts to block Trump's travel ban on several countries in the Middle East. While initially successful, the Supreme Court eventually upheld the ban. Other challenges from the ACLU against Trump included going after his administration for restricting abortion care for immigration detainees, combating Trump's efforts to implement asylum restrictions for migrants and his push to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census.
The ACLU's Adri Perez, center, and other activists rally outside a Texas courthouse where a hearing was held to stop mandated child welfare investigations targeting families supportive of transgender children. (Erich Schlegel/AP Images for Human Rights Campaign)
In his second term, Trump, according to Romero, will effectuate "dragnet raids" against immigrants, target his political foes, "spy on private citizens, promote discrimination against marginalized communities, and control what we can and can't do with our bodies."
"Despair and resignation are not a strategy," Romero said. "At the ACLU, we’re choosing to channel our fear into action."
In addition to utilizing the courts, the ACLU also said it intends to leverage its ties to federal and state lawmakers to push for oversight and investigations into Trump's "restrictive executive branch policies."
Pro-abortion activists demonstrate in Orlando, Florida. (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty)
"The Trump administration’s anti-liberty and fundamentally anti-American policies will be met with the full firepower of the ACLU, the might of our allies, and the commitment of the American people," Romero wrote.
The ACLU declined to comment to Fox News, but an official did point to a June "roadmap" the group published outlining its plan "to protect civil rights" in the next administration and analyzing the policies of both Trump and President Biden, who, at the time, was the Democrats' nominee for president prior to dropping out.
"This November, freedom is on the ballot," the roadmap's introduction stated.
