Resisting the Trump agenda leaves no room for despair

Hope is a political act. And one year into the second Trump administration, I am hopeful.

My hope coexists alongside my dismay at the horrors of the past year: Immigrants and international students kidnapped from our neighborhoods; families separated without due process; local officials threatened; nutrition and childcare programs shuttered; science, education, and the arts defunded; troops in the streets of U.S. cities; peaceful protestors assaulted;  lethal strikes on civilian boats in international waters; a covert military intervention to oust a sitting leader and take control of Venezuela’s vast oil reserves; and, in Minneapolis, a young mother bearing witness to ICE’s immigration raids shot dead by a federal agent.

It is overwhelming by design. Yet “we the people” are fighting back.

Around the country, in the courts, in state legislatures and town meetings, online and in the streets, historic numbers of people are showing up to oppose authoritarianism and demand respect for the rule of law. Support for President Trump’s agenda has plunged: his job approval rating is 36%, according to a recent survey from AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Polls show strong support for basic rights like free speech and due process. Turns out, true patriots don’t like dictators.

I firmly believe that this unprecedented mobilization of civil society will not only save our democracy but improve it, so that it works better for everyone.

And 2026 will be pivotal. From the frontline of the resistance, I offer three lessons:

The ACLU, nationally, has taken more than 200 legal actions to defend civil rights and civil liberties since Trump’s inauguration. At the ACLU’s Massachusetts affiliate, which I lead, we have worked alongside elected officials and civil servants, law firms and civil rights allies, faith groups and educators, business and labor leaders, artists, journalists, community leaders, and many others. Together, we have delayed, diluted and outright defeated key elements of Trump’s agenda.

But as important as the courts are, they alone cannot save democracy. That takes all of us. And people from all backgrounds are responding.

In the first half of 2025, there were three times as many protests as there were during the same period in Trump’s first term, according to the Crowd Counting Consortium, a joint project of Harvard Kennedy School and the University of Connecticut. Then came the massive No Kings protest last October — it made history, drawing an estimated 7 million people, in thousands of small towns and big cities from coast to coast.

Mobilization of civil society has been an essential factor in preventing democracies around the world from tumbling into autocracy. So, these big, peaceful protests matter. As do the less visible actions, like the small vigils outside detention centers and ICE deportation hubs.

It’s not just protests that make a difference. Regular people have helped to shift the narrative on immigration by capturing federal agents’ violent acts and excessive force on video, at enormous personal risk. They have shown up for their communities by organizing comprehensive mutual aid, including delivering groceries to neighbors who are afraid to leave their homes. They have turned out in force to Know Your Rights workshops, organized by the ACLU and others across the country. At the ACLU of Massachusetts, we've trained more than 5,000 people in the past year. That matters.

It matters when we flex our economic power to call out censorship and defend the First Amendment. It matters when we celebrate the artists, read the books, and teach the history that those in power seek to erase, on topics from slavery to LGBTQ rights and more. All of it matters.

Each of these acts is a tangible way to defend democracy, spark community and nurture the spirit of resistance. Aspiring autocrats count on isolating and intimidating the population into silence. Showing up defeats that tactic.

Best of all, everyone can find a way to show up: If you're a musician, add a protest song to your set. If you knit, try your hand at “craftivism.” Volunteer. Donate. Vote. Call your elected officials. Then call them again. Tell your friends why you called and how it felt to have your voice heard.

Courage is contagious, and the whole is much greater than each individual act.

I’m often asked why the ACLU bothers trying to block Trump’s agenda in court, given the perceived deference of the Supreme Court to executive power. First, facts matter — rulings don’t always favor the White House. Just last month, a Supreme Court decision forced the Trump administration to end National Guard deployments to three cities.

Also, even temporary wins in lower courts can make a real difference. Last winter, our team sued on behalf of transgender, nonbinary and intersex people to block a new policy requiring that all U.S. passports reflect the sex assigned at birth. In June, we won a preliminary injunction blocking that policy. Unfortunately, in November, the Supreme Court used its shadow docket to pause the injunction, reinstituting passport discrimination — for now.

We’ll be back in court on this issue this year. Whatever happens, I am proud that our challenge held a cruel policy at bay for five months. During that time, countless Americans secured passports that accurately reflected their gender identity.

Trial court wins on other issues have freed people from wrongful detention (that includes Rümeysa Öztürk, the Tufts University graduate student), and restored grant funding for scientific research. These rulings have led to real, tangible results on the ground. Even temporary successes on such vital issues are well worth the fight.

It’s not enough to resist Trump’s grab for autocratic power.  We must also build a democracy that works for everyone. That starts at the local level.

Voters in vanguard states like Massachusetts can push legislators to build “firewalls for freedom” to protect our rights and liberties.

The Massachusetts Legislature showed the way last summer by expanding protections for health care providers and for patients seeking abortions or gender-affirming care, as part of a strategy to build "firewalls for freedom." Another "firewalls" bill, now  under consideration, would safeguard personal privacy from data profiteers and bounty hunters.

In cities and towns, residents can urge local leaders to decline voluntary collaborations with ICE, declare support for immigrant and transgender neighbors, and limit police from sharing location information about drivers without due process. Such actions have both a practical and a symbolic impact, helping to paint a clear vision of what we're fighting for. It’s not a return to the status quo; it’s a more equal society, with more opportunity for all.

Democracy can’t defend itself. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to. People across America have shown that they value community over chaos, compassion over cruelty, love over hate. That’s the power of “we the people.”

And that gives me hope.