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[Skip navigation](https://www.aclu.org/our-47th-president-donald-trump#content)  # Donald Trump’s Second Term: Our Work Begins Now Learn more about how the ACLU will take action during Trump’s second administration. It’s official: The United States’ 47th president is Donald Trump. This is Trump’s second presidential victory and his third bid for office. Since first leaving office in 2020, Trump has threatened to enact policies that would endanger immigrant families, further restrict reproductive health, and weaponize the federal government against protesters and political opponents. Now that he has returned to the White House and will be buoyed [by many allies](https://www.aclu.org/project-2025-explained) in his cabinet and in Congress, these threats could become real. **The ACLU is prepared for this threat.** We took legal action against Trump’s administration more than 430 times when he was first in office. We have the playbook to fight back – and win – once again. We’ve planned for how Trump’s proposed policies will affect our civil rights and civil liberties and are ready to take action. ## Our Roadmap for the Administration Ahead Click below to read our memos on what Trump’s presidency will mean for our most fundamental freedoms and what the ACLU will be doing to protect them.  Campaign Jan 2025 Civil Liberties \+7 Issues ### The Trump Memos Our democracy hangs in the balance because of initiatives like Project 2025. Read our memos outlining what each presidential candidate means for... Explore campaign [The Trump Memos. Explore Campaign.](https://www.aclu.org/campaigns-initiatives/project2025) Campaign Jan 2025  Civil Liberties \+7 Issues ### The Trump Memos Our democracy hangs in the balance because of initiatives like Project 2025. Read our memos outlining what each presidential candidate means for... [The Trump Memos. Explore Campaign.](https://www.aclu.org/campaigns-initiatives/project2025) ## How You Can Take Action Trump’s second term holds many uncertainties — we have tools to help you feel prepared and informed.  News & Commentary Jan 2025 Civil Liberties ### How to Take Action on Inauguration Day and Beyond Our civil liberties and civil rights are on the line. The ACLU’s guide helps to connect you with ways to advocate for our freedoms. **By:** ACLU Explore news & commentary [How To Take Action On Inauguration Day And Beyond. Explore News & Commentary.](https://www.aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/how-to-take-action-on-inauguration-day-and-beyond) News & Commentary Jan 2025  Civil Liberties ### How to Take Action on Inauguration Day and Beyond Our civil liberties and civil rights are on the line. The ACLU’s guide helps to connect you with ways to advocate for our freedoms. **By:** ACLU [How To Take Action On Inauguration Day And Beyond. Explore News & Commentary.](https://www.aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/how-to-take-action-on-inauguration-day-and-beyond) ## The Power to Protect is in States’ Hands See how we’re urging states to ensure that individuals’ rights and freedoms aren’t stripped away by federal force.  Resource ### Firewall For Freedom: States Must Safeguard Our Rights Take action with ACLU People Power\! Explore resource [Firewall For Freedom: States Must Safeguard Our Rights. Explore Resource.](https://www.aclu.org/firewall-for-freedom-states-must-safeguard-our-rights) Resource  ### Firewall For Freedom: States Must Safeguard Our Rights Take action with ACLU People Power\! [Firewall For Freedom: States Must Safeguard Our Rights. Explore Resource.](https://www.aclu.org/firewall-for-freedom-states-must-safeguard-our-rights) ## Highlights From Our Previous Fights ## Donald Trump will return to the White House in January. The ACLU is ready. ### January 2017 #### The Muslim Ban A week after Trump was inaugurated, he [issued an executive order](https://www.aclu.org/living-with-the-muslim-ban) barring people from several Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States, carrying out his campaign promise to bar Muslims visitors and immigrants. Less than 24 hours after the order was issued, the ACLU and our partners filed the first lawsuit against Trump’s Muslim ban. The ACLU eventually brought 28 lawsuits against the ban, and blocked the first and second versions of Trump’s executive order, protecting thousands of people.  ### August 2017 #### Transgender Military Ban The ACLU sued the Trump administration when it [attempted to ban transgender people](https://www.aclu.org/cases/stone-v-trump/page/2#press-releases) from enlisting in the armed forces, as well as bar transgender service members from continuing to serve in the military or receiving medically-necessary health care. Filed on behalf of six transgender service members, the lawsuit argued that the directive violated due process and equal protection.  ### October 2017 #### Abortion Ban for Unaccompanied Immigrant Minors The ACLU filed [an emergency lawsuit](https://www.aclu.org/cases/garza-v-hargan-challenge-trump-administrations-attempts-block-abortions-young-immigrant-women) challenging a Trump administration policy denying abortion care for unaccompanied immigrant minors in government custody. Representing Jane Doe, a pregnant teenager who was denied an abortion, the ACLU successfully secured relief from the courts and our case ultimately led the Trump administration to abandon its policy.  ### February 2018 #### Family Separation at the Border The ACLU filed a lawsuit seeking [the immediate reunification of a mother and daughter](https://www.aclu.org/trumps-family-separation-crisis) who were forcibly separated after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. That client, Ms. L., became the lead plaintiff in a class action that revealed a devastating effort to use family separation to deter immigrants from entering the U.S. and resulted in a nationwide injunction ending the practice, followed by a landmark settlement providing critical support to thousands of separated families. The ACLU continues to work to reunify families and implement the settlement.  ### June 2018 #### 2020 Census Citizenship Question The ACLU filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s plan to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census, [which would have chilled participation by](https://www.aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/supreme-court-finds-wilbur-ross-lied-put-citizenship-question-2020-census) people of color and mixed-immigration status families. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of multiple immigrants’ rights groups, argued that the question would hurt states with large immigrant communities, causing them to lose seats in Congress and federal funding. We won the case, which went all the way to the Supreme Court level.  ### November 2018 #### Asylum Bans and Restrictions The ACLU and our partners filed multiple lawsuits challenging successive Trump administration attempts to dismantle the asylum system, including the so-called [entry ban](https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/groups-challenge-trump-immigration-ban-after-refugees-detained-airports), [transit ban](https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/federal-appeals-court-upholds-block-asylum-transit-ban), [return to Mexico policy](https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-comment-federal-appeals-court-ruling-blocking-trump-forced-return-mexico-policy), “[safe third country](https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/groups-file-federal-lawsuit-challenging-trump-administrations-so-called-safe-third)” arrangements, and [Title 42 expulsions](https://www.aclu.org/cases/huisha-huisha-v-mayorkas). We blocked some, but not all, of these restrictions.  ### February 2019 #### Southern Border Wall Days after Trump declared a national emergency [to illegally transfer military construction and Treasury forfeiture funds to build](https://www.aclu.org/cases/sierra-club-v-trump-challenge-trumps-national-emergency-declaration-construct-border-wall) border wall segments that Congress had refused to fund, the ACLU sued. Filed on behalf of the Sierra Club and Southern Border Communities Coalition, the lawsuit argued that the emergency declaration was unauthorized, and that border wall construction would hurt border communities, endanger wildlife, and damage the environment. After blocking Trump’s transfer of funds in the federal courts, we settled the case with the Joe Biden administration.  ### July 2020 #### Death Penalty Abuse and Expansion [The ACLU sued the Trump administration](https://www.aclu.org/news/capital-punishment/the-federal-governments-decision-to-proceed-with-executions-during-the-pandemic-puts-me-in-an-impossible-position), stating that its rush to execute Wesley Purkey during the COVID-19 pandemic violated his right to religious liberty because his spiritual advisor was medically compromised and could not attend the execution safely during the pandemic. The Trump administration’s brutal use of the death penalty led to 13 people being executed in the last nine months Trump was in office. 

It’s official: The United States’ 47th president is Donald Trump. This is Trump’s second presidential victory and his third bid for office. Since first leaving office in 2020, Trump has threatened to enact policies that would endanger immigrant families, further restrict reproductive health, and weaponize the federal government against protesters and political opponents. Now that he has returned to the White House and will be buoyed [by many allies](https://www.aclu.org/project-2025-explained) in his cabinet and in Congress, these threats could become real. **The ACLU is prepared for this threat.** We took legal action against Trump’s administration more than 430 times when he was first in office. We have the playbook to fight back – and win – once again. We’ve planned for how Trump’s proposed policies will affect our civil rights and civil liberties and are ready to take action. Click below to read our memos on what Trump’s presidency will mean for our most fundamental freedoms and what the ACLU will be doing to protect them. Trump’s second term holds many uncertainties — we have tools to help you feel prepared and informed. See how we’re urging states to ensure that individuals’ rights and freedoms aren’t stripped away by federal force. Donald Trump will return to the White House in January. The ACLU is ready. ### January 2017 #### The Muslim Ban A week after Trump was inaugurated, he [issued an executive order](https://www.aclu.org/living-with-the-muslim-ban) barring people from several Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States, carrying out his campaign promise to bar Muslims visitors and immigrants. Less than 24 hours after the order was issued, the ACLU and our partners filed the first lawsuit against Trump’s Muslim ban. The ACLU eventually brought 28 lawsuits against the ban, and blocked the first and second versions of Trump’s executive order, protecting thousands of people.  ### August 2017 #### Transgender Military Ban The ACLU sued the Trump administration when it [attempted to ban transgender people](https://www.aclu.org/cases/stone-v-trump/page/2#press-releases) from enlisting in the armed forces, as well as bar transgender service members from continuing to serve in the military or receiving medically-necessary health care. Filed on behalf of six transgender service members, the lawsuit argued that the directive violated due process and equal protection.  ### October 2017 #### Abortion Ban for Unaccompanied Immigrant Minors The ACLU filed [an emergency lawsuit](https://www.aclu.org/cases/garza-v-hargan-challenge-trump-administrations-attempts-block-abortions-young-immigrant-women) challenging a Trump administration policy denying abortion care for unaccompanied immigrant minors in government custody. Representing Jane Doe, a pregnant teenager who was denied an abortion, the ACLU successfully secured relief from the courts and our case ultimately led the Trump administration to abandon its policy.  ### February 2018 #### Family Separation at the Border The ACLU filed a lawsuit seeking [the immediate reunification of a mother and daughter](https://www.aclu.org/trumps-family-separation-crisis) who were forcibly separated after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. That client, Ms. L., became the lead plaintiff in a class action that revealed a devastating effort to use family separation to deter immigrants from entering the U.S. and resulted in a nationwide injunction ending the practice, followed by a landmark settlement providing critical support to thousands of separated families. The ACLU continues to work to reunify families and implement the settlement.  ### June 2018 #### 2020 Census Citizenship Question The ACLU filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s plan to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census, [which would have chilled participation by](https://www.aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/supreme-court-finds-wilbur-ross-lied-put-citizenship-question-2020-census) people of color and mixed-immigration status families. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of multiple immigrants’ rights groups, argued that the question would hurt states with large immigrant communities, causing them to lose seats in Congress and federal funding. We won the case, which went all the way to the Supreme Court level.  ### February 2019 #### Southern Border Wall Days after Trump declared a national emergency [to illegally transfer military construction and Treasury forfeiture funds to build](https://www.aclu.org/cases/sierra-club-v-trump-challenge-trumps-national-emergency-declaration-construct-border-wall) border wall segments that Congress had refused to fund, the ACLU sued. Filed on behalf of the Sierra Club and Southern Border Communities Coalition, the lawsuit argued that the emergency declaration was unauthorized, and that border wall construction would hurt border communities, endanger wildlife, and damage the environment. After blocking Trump’s transfer of funds in the federal courts, we settled the case with the Joe Biden administration.  ### July 2020 #### Death Penalty Abuse and Expansion [The ACLU sued the Trump administration](https://www.aclu.org/news/capital-punishment/the-federal-governments-decision-to-proceed-with-executions-during-the-pandemic-puts-me-in-an-impossible-position), stating that its rush to execute Wesley Purkey during the COVID-19 pandemic violated his right to religious liberty because his spiritual advisor was medically compromised and could not attend the execution safely during the pandemic. The Trump administration’s brutal use of the death penalty led to 13 people being executed in the last nine months Trump was in office.