(NewsNation) — The American Civil Liberties Union wants state and local officials across the nation to enact a “firewall” of laws protecting citizens from what the group fears will be myriad civil rights abuses.
ACLU leaders said Wednesday that state and city governments should prepare for the implementation of ideas from Project 2025, the New Jersey Monitor reports.
President-elect Donald Trump has vocally distanced himself from the nearly 1,000-page handbook from conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, though multiple administrative picks authored parts of it.
That includes the nominated chairman of the Federal Communications Commission Brendan Carr and director of the Office of Management and Budget Russ Vought.
“During the first Trump administration, we learned that collective power among state and local officials was critical in blunting some of the worst abuses,” said Deirdre Schifeling, chief political and advocacy officer of the national ACLU.
“From city leaders who fought to make their city safe from federal deportation raids to state attorneys general who took legal actions on a range of issues, resistance was national and widespread, and it also worked, which is why Project 2025 tries to limit the power of states and increase executive overreach. We will resist that,” Schifeling added.
ACLU’s ‘Firewall for Freedom‘ plan
The ACLU says Project 2025 “threatens our rights, and is rife with proposals that would harm real people.” It has also built a “detailed roadmap” about fighting against some of the policies, according to its website.
Schifeling outlined the plan, referred to as the “Firewall for Freedom,” for reporters:
- Fight federal efforts to access private data, including personal health and location information
- In that same vein, protect children’s data that could be used to pinpoint children of undocumented parents or who are transgender
- Prepare for mass deportations by setting up hotlines, offering free legal help and limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities
- Bar state National Guard units from joining federal forces, as Trump has promised
- Fund abortion care and the travel it may take to get it
“Our message to state and local leaders is simple. Just say no. Just say no to Trump’s radical agenda and requests from the Trump administration to use state and local resources to violate our rights,” Schifeling said Wednesday.
Actions similar to those outlined by the ACLU have already sparked controversy, with Denver Mayor Mike Johnston saying he’d block the administration’s mass deportation efforts.
Trump’s pick for “border czar,” Tom Homan, threatened to jail Johnston.
Homan also pushed back on sanctuary cities in Democratic states such as Colorado, Illinois and New York, suggesting if they choose not to help ICE, the alternative could be worse.
What is Project 2025?
The Project 2025 handbook can be seen as a manual for the next Republican president, detailing ways to reshape America using outlier conservative ideas and consolidating more power in the executive branch.
“We need to flood the zone with conservatives,” said Paul Dans, director of the 2025 Presidential Transition Project at The Heritage Foundation and a former Trump administration official, according to the Associated Press.
Building off four pillars — a policy agenda, personnel, training, and a “180-day playbook” — Project 2025 organizers plan to “pave the way for an effective conservative administration.”
A main component of Project 2025 is the firing of as many as 50,000 federal workers who conservative groups say will obstruct their agenda. Under Project 2025, agencies such as the U.S. Department of Education would be “eliminated,” and others, like the Federal Trade Commission, Federal Communications Commission and Justice Department, would be placed under the president’s control.
A so-called top-to-bottom “overhaul” of the Department of Justice would end FBI efforts to stop misinformation. The Pentagon would “abolish” diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives if Project 2025 is adopted, and service members discharged for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine would be reinstated.
NewsNation’s Cassie Buchman and Patrick Djordjevic contributed to this report.
