6 months ago
22
NEW DELHI: Adversaries of Donald Trump are preparing
potential legal actions
in anticipation of his possible reelection in November and the implementation of his promised
mass deportations
, New York Times reported.
The fear that Trump's return to power would not only jeopardize their agenda but also American democracy itself has brought together
Democratic officials
, progressive activists, watchdog groups, and former Republicans, who are taking measures to prepare for a potential second Trump presidency.
Despite the
Supreme Court
's recent rejection of an attempt to nullify federal approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, liberals are concerned that a new Trump administration could rescind the approval or criminalize interstate distribution of the drug, the report said.
In response, Washington governor Jay Inslee, a Democrat, has secured a sufficient supply of
mifepristone pills
to ensure access for women in his state throughout a potential second Trump administration. "We have it physically in the state of Washington, which could stop him and his anti-choice forces from prohibiting its distribution," Inslee said. "It has a life span of five or six years. If there was another Trump administration, it'll get us through."
If Trump returns to power, he plans to implement radical changes, including using the Justice Department to seek revenge on his adversaries, deploying federal troops to Democratic cities, conducting mass deportations, establishing camps for immigrant detainees, facilitating the dismissal of civil servants and replacing them with loyalists, and expanding and centralizing executive power.
Many centrist and left-leaning group leaders insist that their primary focus is on preventing Trump from regaining power in the first place. They are also cautious about publicly discussing their contingency plans to avoid signaling a lack of confidence in President Joe Biden's campaign prospects.
The Biden administration pushed through numerous regulations in the spring, meeting a deadline to ensure that those rules could not be easily overturned next year if Trump wins the election and Republicans gain complete control of Congress. However, administration officials have generally been reluctant to engage in contingency planning, insisting they are confident Biden will secure a second term.
A common tactic used to counter the first Trump administration was litigation that tied up his policies in court. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), one of the primary litigants against the first Trump administration, plans to assume a similar role if he regains the White House. The ACLU has identified 63 scenarios in which a new Trump administration could threaten individual rights and the rule of law, focusing on four areas for which it is drafting potential legal filings.
Another hub of liberal resistance plans for a second Trump administration is Democracy Forward, an organization formed after Trump's 2016 victory that filed numerous legal challenges to his policies during his first term. The organization has developed a threat matrix covering issues such as abortion, health care, civil rights, environmental protections, immigration, and the "weaponization of government."
However, there is a widely held view among Democrats that many types of legal actions may be less effective during a second Trump term than they were during his first, due to a more conservative Supreme Court remade by Trump. This legal reality has led those planning for a Trump return to power to focus on state-level actions that can be locked in before the 2024 election.
Democratic governors and state attorneys general have been working together to plan litigation, pass shield laws to protect abortion providers and patients from penalties in other states, and secure stockpiles of abortion pills. The Reproductive Freedom Alliance, founded by California governor Gavin Newsom, serves as a hub for governors to coordinate their strategies and could be the foundation for broader collaboration to resist Trump's agenda.
