The presidency of Donald Trump has fueled tremendous interest in the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). That membership has tripled both nationally and in Santa Barbara County. This jump has ACLU leaders scrambling to accommodate, engage, and direct this tsunami of new enthusiasm. Hector Villagra, executive director of the ACLU of Southern California, told the gathering at a Wine Cask fundraiser that the ACLU was one of the few groups that took Trump both seriously and literally from the minute he became the Republican nominee. The organization — with chapters in 50 states and a staff of 300 attorneys — had already prepared a series of “Trump Memos” so that on Election Day, he said, “we had our marching orders in place.”
Even before the inauguration, he said, the ACLU ran a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times, warning Trump: “If you do this, we’ll see you in court.” Then on Trump’s first day in office, the group filed a Freedom of Information Act requesting all records relating to Trump’s private business interests. It’s been a full-court press ever since.
When Trump announced his executive order barring citizens from seven countries — all with Muslim majorities — the ACLU filed five lawsuits against what Villagra termed “the Muslim ban.” “Trump issued his order on a Friday,” he said. “By Saturday afternoon, we had filed.” Trump’s amended ban is still objectionable on constitutional grounds, according to Villagra, since it still targets Muslims.