New video: CREDO and the ACLU are resisting Trump’s dangerous agenda

As Donald Trump has made good on his campaign promises to attack immigrant communities and upend our civil liberties, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has fought back every step of the way. When Trump signed executive orders to ban Muslims from entering the country, the ACLU was on the front lines successfully blocking his illegal orders in court. And as Trump continues to trample on the constitution and the rights of immigrants, Muslims, women, LGBTQ people and people of color, the ACLU will be there.

This May, CREDO was honored to welcome ACLU National Political Director Faiz Shakir to our headquarters for an important conversation about the ACLU’s work resisting the Trump agenda and its new People Power platform.

Since 1988, CREDO members have voted to donate more than $1.3 million to the ACLU, and CREDO Action is proud to to work in tandem with the ACLU to fight for the rights of Muslims, LGBTQ people, immigrants, women, people of color and other historically disenfranchised communities and to stand up for the civil liberties of every American.

When CREDO activists were at San Francisco International Airport protesting Trump’s Muslim ban, we saw ACLU lawyers hunched over their computers in the airports writing up briefs. And while the ACLU is legendary for what it does in the courtroom, it is now organizing in our local communities to fight back against the right-wing attacks and have deployed its new program – People Power – all across the country.

People Power is a “grassroots member-mobilization project that engages volunteers across the country to take action when Trump or his administration attempt to enact unconstitutional policies or trample on people’s constitutional rights.” In fact, 4,600 events around the country have been organized in local communities to resist Trump’s agenda.

The People Power platform has helped the organization quickly mobilize activists to fight back against attacks on immigrant communities. In Northern California, for example, when the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement held a town hall, People Power members joined immigrant rights activists in a massive show of resistance to speak out against immigration raids and hold the agency accountable.

“If we’ve got an administration that’s pursuing a radical agenda at the national level through Congress, through the executive branch, even through the Supreme Court, where is our power? The power is with the people. The power is at the most basic ground level, and that’s where the energy and enthusiasm is,” Shakir said.

But Shakir also understands that this is just the beginning of the resistance to Trump’s attacks on immigrants, minorities and our civil liberties, adding, “I know this is a long haul, so we’re bracing ourselves. But while it’s been the worst of times over the first 100 days, it’s also been the best of times because we’re awakening the democratic spirit of activism. And that to me is the bright silver lining of the last hundred days.”

You can watch the entire conversation on CREDO’s Facebook page.

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