Trump 2.0: Executive Orders, Explained (So Far)

President Trump signed more executive orders on his first day in office than any other president in American history, targeting the rights of immigrants, LGBTQ people, and more without regard for constitutional rights or respect for the democratic process. Thanks to your support, our lawyers are already at work defending our rights against these attacks. We filed our first lawsuit within hours of the president signing an executive order that aims to ban birthright citizenship.

Below, you will find our expert analysis on this and several other executive orders signed by the president so far, and updates about our litigation efforts to stop them.

Banning gender-affirming health care

An order signed by the president directed federal agencies to withhold funds from medical providers and institutions that provide gender-affirming medical treatments such as puberty suppressants and hormone therapies to anyone under 19, threatening to shut down access to essential health care that is already out of reach for many. We filed a lawsuit alongside Lamda Legal to defend the rights of trans kids and their families to access physician-prescribed, medically recommended care.

Read more about our trans health care lawsuit

Shutting down asylum at the border

President Trump’s directive to suspend asylum entirely is extreme, unjust, and a disservice to families seeking safety at our southern border. Denying migrants and displaced individuals from the opportunity to find safety undermines our nation’s values and creates additional strain on our already burdened border communities. Our lawsuit underscores the unlawful nature of this policy and emphasizes the need to protect asylum seekers’ rights. 

Read more about our asylum lawsuit

Attacking birthright citizenship

At the ACLU, we know that denying citizenship to U.S.-born children is not only unconstitutional — it’s also a reckless and ruthless repudiation of American values. Birthright citizenship is part of what makes the United States the strong and dynamic nation that it is. With this executive order, President Trump seeks to repeat one of the gravest errors in American history by creating a permanent subclass of people born in the U.S. who are denied full rights as Americans—which is why we filed a lawsuit on Day 1 of the Trump administration.

Read More About Birthright Citizenship  

Fast-tracking deportation

The Trump administration wants to use an illegal policy to fuel its mass deportation agenda and rip communities apart. With his executive order on fast-tracking deportation, the president is targeting immigrants nationwide who cannot prove they have been in the country continuously for two years or more. Due process requires they get a fair hearing, which this rule strips from them. Under this rule, immigrants who have been integrated into and contribute to our communities would get less due process contesting their deportation than they would contesting a traffic ticket--which is why we are suing. 

Read more about our deportation lawsuit

Reinstating sex-based discrimination

On his first day back in office, President Trump signed a far-reaching executive order requiring federal agencies to discriminate against transgender people by denying who they are and threatening the freedom of self-determination and self-expression for all. We all deserve the freedom to be ourselves, including the right to determine what’s right for our bodies and lives. Trump’s sex discrimination mandate threatens to deny that freedom to transgender people across the country while forcing everyone else to sacrifice their own freedom and privacy, too.

Read more about sex-based discrimination

Rolling back diversity, equity, inclusion & accessibility efforts

The Trump administration’s three executive orders targeting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) initiatives take a “shock and awe” approach that upends longstanding, bipartisan federal policy meant to open doors that had been unfairly closed. In his first few days, President Donald Trump is undertaking a deliberate effort to obfuscate and weaponize civil rights laws that address discrimination and ensure everyone has a fair chance to compete, whether it’s for a job, a promotion, or an education.

Read More about DEI & Accessibility

Stay Tuned

As our legal experts continue analyzing actions taken by the Trump administration and Congress, we will make updates to this resource. Remember: Inciting fear and a sense of overwhelm is the point of this flurry of unconstitutional executive orders. We will continue to fight these and other efforts to undermine our rights in the courts, in the state house, and in our community.