Donald Trump’s second term as United States president poses a grave threat to human rights in the United States and the world, Human Rights Watch said today.
These concerns reflect Trump’s rights-abusing record during his first term, his embrace of white supremacist supporters and ideology, the extreme antidemocratic and anti-rights policies proposed by think tanks led by former aides, and campaign promises, including to round up and deport millions of immigrants and retaliate against political opponents.
“Donald Trump has made no secret of his intent to violate the human rights of millions of people in the United States,” said Tirana Hassan, executive director at Human Rights Watch. “Independent institutions and civil society groups, including Human Rights Watch, will need to do all we can to hold him and his administration accountable for abuses.”
During Trump’s first term as president, from 2017 to 2021, his record of rights abuses were documented. These included policies and efforts to expel asylum seekers and separate families at the US-Mexico border, advance racist tropes against Black communities and other people of color, adopt policies that punish low-income families and deprive them of health care, and to fuel a violent insurrection to overthrow the results of a democratic election.
Trump’s pledges during his 2024 campaign raise greater cause for concern in a second term, both domestically and internationally.
He has proposed policies that would weaken democratic institutions that protect fundamental human rights and would lessen checks on presidential authority. The threat of abusing the executive office is of even greater concern because of a recent US Supreme Court decision that grants presidents broad immunity from criminal prosecution for official actions taken in office.
While the presidential campaign cycle featured rhetoric from both candidates that was hostile toward immigrants, Trump made scapegoating immigrants a central pillar of his campaign. He has called for extreme policies that include mass detention of migrants and mass deportations of millions of people, which would tear apart families with deep roots in the US.
Such a program would invariably entail racial profiling, lead to heightened abuses by law enforcement during mass roundups, and instigate more xenophobic actions among the wider public.
Trump has vowed to retaliate against his political enemies. Throughout speeches and campaign interviews, he has used increasingly dangerous rhetoric, referring to his critics as “the enemy from within.” Trump threatened to order the US Department of Justice to pursue prosecutions against President Joe Biden and others he claims oppose his agenda, including election officials and voters. Trump has also suggested he would invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy the US military and national guard against people in the US who might exercise their right to protest.
With respect to foreign policy, during his first term Trump demonstrated little respect for treaties, multilateral institutions, or efforts to protect the human rights of people living under repressive governments. His administration consistently worked against women’s rights and environmental progress at the United Nations and tried to redefine and limit the definition of rights claimed to be protected through the US Department of State. Trump has signaled opposition to funding for humanitarian aid and civilian protection efforts in major conflicts and crises.
Source: HRW