We're Fighting for Our Freedoms -- No Matter Who Is President

As we near Election Day, the ACLU is in conversation with state and local activists about how to prepare for, and respond to, the election outcome. Many people we spoke with are grappling with how they can best protect their communities and fight back against unprecedented attempts to restrict our rights. Right now, there's real concern about how to combat the dystopian, authoritarian vision for America that Project 2025 and other extremist figures have promised.

Many ACLU supporters also tell us that it already feels like Project 2025 is in operation in their community. They are living with state-level bans on abortion, ideological purges in their schools and intimidation and harassment from anti-civil rights law enforcement officials and threats by vigilante groups. No matter who wins the White House, they will continue to live with attempts to impose an extreme, anti-civil liberties agenda on their communities.

The gravity of this moment is clear to all of us. We need to come together now to prepare a sustained and coordinated advocacy campaign for civil liberties and civil rights protections where we live. We need a firewall for freedom: a barrier that stops the fiery spread of constant attacks on our civil liberties and civil rights.

How To Build a Firewall for Freedom

Without the assistance of state and local government agencies, a presidential administration will find it much harder to act on its worst threats, such as mass deportations. That is why we are calling on state governments to ensure a firewall between state and local personnel, resources or data and federal or out-of-state law enforcement agencies that attempt to violate our constitutional freedoms. When federal or out-of-state law enforcement agencies request information or assistance they could use to undermine the civil rights of residents, state agencies can and should decline to provide it. We urge state legislatures to pass measures that affirm and enforce this firewall for freedom.

We also urge state and local leaders to pass laws, issue directives and reaffirm state constitutional protections for the right to protest, data privacy and student nondiscrimination. This support is vital to educators, health care providers and families who may face attacks or harassment from either a turbocharged federal law enforcement or another state's prosecutors.

At the local level, we urge mayors and city councils to come together to protect and support families who could be targeted by mass deportation efforts, attempts to criminalize gender nonconformity and other anti-trans discrimination, and other attacks. We will also urge state and local leaders to move forward on racial and criminal justice in a climate that will remain challenging no matter who wins the presidency.

How We Speak Out for Our Freedoms

Even in legislatures and city councils where they are in the minority, individual elected leaders have powerful voices. We urge them to stand alongside impacted community members, bear witness to abuses and speak out. This will be vital to pushing back on the xenophobia, racism and bigotry that we have unfortunately seen in far too many of our communities.

Trump has threatened to use the military and federal law enforcement agencies to go after his political opponents. Sadly, we have already seen similar action from state and local law enforcement. For example, state police in Florida accosted voters; and the Texas attorney general attacked faith-based communities, voting rights protections organizations, immigrant communities and reproductive health nonprofits. It is vital for state and local elected leaders to present a counternarrative to such attacks and an alternative vision of governance built on freedom and rights.

How We're Fighting Back

The ACLU has challenged unlawful attacks on our rights and freedoms for more than 100 years. We know that states are the frontlines in this fight for justice. They have the power to build the firewall we described that will protect our communities. We are prepared to use every tool at our disposal to continue this fight -- no matter who wins the presidential election -- and we have a plan.

For months, the ACLU's legal and advocacy experts have been developing a roadmap to work with Congress and in statehouses to protect and expand abortion access, pass nondiscrimination laws and more in the event of a Kamala Harris or a Donald Trump presidency. This plan is outlined in 13 memos addressing the key policy concerns of either candidate. In the coming months, our affiliates throughout the country will lead the charge to enact state firewalls to protect residents and push back on any unconstitutional tactics, whether pursued by a president or other states.

This important work starts now, and it starts with you. Join us in the fight for our freedoms. Let's get to work.

Nahal Zamani is the director of state campaigns at the ACLU National Political Advocacy Department, where she leads a team supporting shared political and advocacy campaigns with our 54 affiliates. Naureen Shah is deputy director of government affairs, equality division at the American Civil Liberties Union, based in Washington, D.C. For more than 100 years, the ACLU has worked in courts, legislatures and communities to protect the constitutional rights of all people. With a nationwide network of offices and millions of members and supporters, the ACLU takes on the toughest civil liberties fights in pursuit of liberty and justice for all. To find out more about the ACLU and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators website at www.creators.com.