ATLANTA — ACLU of Georgia Executive Director Andrea Young joined the Southern Poverty Law Center and other allied organizations Wednesday, April 30, 2025, on the steps of Big Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Atlanta to address the first 100 days of the Trump administration.
The president has used his short time in office to test every limit, abuse every power, and exploit every loophole to silence dissent, disenfranchise marginalized communities, and erode our rule of law. But we aren’t backing down. The ACLU has filed 107 legal actions. More than one million members have taken action since Election Day. More than 14,000 people have been trained as volunteers. And more than 150 Know Your Rights trainings have been held nationwide.
Watch Young's full speech:
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Read her speech:
"Chaos, Cruelty, Constitutional Crisis. That is the hallmark of this administration in its first 100 days.
The ACLU and affiliates in all 50 states are working to defeat the unconstitutional actions. We hope to mitigate the cruelty. We have filed over 100 legal actions — a number that grows daily. This is a partial timeline of the chaos, cruelty, and constitutional crisis since the inauguration on January 20.
In January, President Trump signed nearly 40 executive orders on his first day back in the White House, including an attempt to end birthright citizenship. The ACLU and other groups sued and blocked this attempt to override the 14th Amendment.
February 14: The Trump administration threatened school funding Over DEI. The ACLU and the National Education Association sued the administration to stop the policy’s implementation. On April 24, a federal judge ruled for our clients and blocked the Trump administration from enforcing this unlawful directive.
Then, in late February, Trump attacked health care biomedical research and the arts. The ACLU represents researchers, public health, and research organizations, and a workers union in a lawsuit to challenge the politically-driven cancellations.
Trump targeted students and scholars for deportation for political speech. The ACLU and our local affiliates are part of the legal effort for international students, including standing up for threatened students here in Georgia. Dissent is not grounds for deportation.
On March 25, Trump attempted to restrict voting rights. On April 1, the ACLU and several voting rights groups challenged Trump’s executive order. And on April 24, a federal judge ruled in our favor, blocking a key part of the order. Trump doesn't have the authority to change our election laws.
Trump, Musk, and this cabinet are targeting vulnerable and marginalized communities, carrying out the scapegoating of immigrants, gutting civil rights and anti-discrimination protections, and attacking transgender folks and gender-affirming care.
Let’s be clear, the lawlessness directed at immigrants is also endangering American citizens.
They are working to consolidate executive power, bypassing the Civil Service Act that since 1883 has meant we have civil servants loyal to the U.S. Constitution and the people, not the president. They are firing public servants across the federal government — CDC, Social Security, Head Start, any staff related to diversity, inclusion, and accessibility, the international staff that do things like prevent babies from starving, and HIV and Tuberculosis prevention.
They are acting to chill dissent and silence adversaries. It’s evident in the arrest and attempted deportation of campus activists, the targeting of law firms and civil society organizations, and the arrest of a state court judge.
We are committed to fighting back against this assault on our civil rights and civil liberties.
We will continue to defend the rule of law.
We will continue to defend the vulnerable.
We will continue to stand against the chaos, the cruelty, and the Constitutional violations of this president and his enablers.
Thank you."
