ACLU of Minnesota Foundation

The second Trump presidency is coming, and many are struggling to get a sense of what that will mean for our country and our daily lives. At the ACLU, we know that as the dust settles, we will find ourselves in a new era in our struggle for civil liberties – a period that will bring unprecedented challenges and will require us to band together and build power in new ways.

The ACLU has been here before. 

 We are a 105-year-old organization and have fought for constitutional rights during dark and dangerous times in this nation’s history. We have seen 19 presidents come and go. We have been armed with the most powerful instrument to stop the abuse of government power: the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Make but no mistake — the Constitution and the rule of law itself will be in this administration's crosshairs. 

 And we believe Trump when he says he will attempt to deport one million people and target the “enemy within” including journalists, a free press, political opponents, and demonstrators. 

 We know that LGBTQI+ rights, abortion access, free speech protections, and racial justice will also be among this administration’s primary targets and our most cherished constitutional freedoms will be under attack.

 No president is bigger than our founding principles and values. I want to reassure you that the ACLU has been planning for this moment. We are ready. 

We filed over 400 legal actions against the first Trump administration. We were the first organization to challenge the Muslim ban and brought the legal challenge that ended child separation. We have a blueprint to defend our rights beginning on Inauguration Day, and we are more prepared than ever to safeguard rights and liberties across the nation. 

We need your support to build a firewall for freedom in Minnesota to protect our communities from attacks that will restrict rights and harm our most vulnerable neighbors.

You can count on us to defend civil liberties, protect all Minnesotans, and check any effort by elected officials to infringe on our rights. People build institutions to uphold their values. 

As this new era unfolds, remember this: When our institutions are threatened, it is up to us, the people, to remember those vulnerable values, to let those steadfast truths be our grounding, and to work with resolve and discipline to protect them, against all odds. If we do not, no one else will.

So please, make your most generous year-end gift to support our work. Help us continue to be the guardians of democracy in Minnesota and across the nation.

Note: The ACLU of Minnesota is solely funded through generous donors like you! We do not receive funding from the government. Your donations help leverage our education and advocacy work, and the valuable services of Minnesota attorneys who donate thousands of hours of pro bono work annually. 

If you have any questions about your contribution to the ACLU-MN, please contact Molly at 651.529.1696; mmiller@aclu-mn.org.