From immigration to climate change, transgender rights to women’s rights, here’s how protests against Trump have unfolded and who’s involved

Who are the key players in the resistance against Donald Trump?

Donald Trump’s approach to the presidency has meant people and legislation have been threatened in a variety of ways.

But on issues from immigration to climate to transgender rights, activists and organizations have been there to rally against Trump.

Here’s a summary of how some of those protests have unfolded, and of the groups and people involved.

Muslim countries executive order

Trump signed an executive order suspending immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries on 27 January. Within a week, dozens of lawsuits had been filed against the order, and it had been suspended. Trump issued a new executive order on 6 March. The state of Hawaii launched a legal challenge to the ban on 8 March, which will be heard in court on 15 March.

Who sued over the original order?



A number of organisations were involved in legal actions. The Council on American-Islamic Relations filed a constitutional challenge to the order, charging that the policy “overtly discriminates against Muslims”.

The American Immigration Council, the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild teamed up to file a nationwide class action lawsuit in Washington.

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The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit along with the International Refugee Assistance Project at the Urban Justice Center, the National Immigration Law Center and others. One of the lead plaintiffs was Hameed Darweesh, an Iraqi who had been granted a special immigrant visa after working as a translator for the US in Iraq. Darweesh was detained for 19 hours at JFK airport the day after Trump’s executive order was implemented.

The ACLU won a temporary stay from a federal judge in Brooklyn that same night.

On 3 February a federal judge ordered a temporary halt on the ban, restoring travel for refugees and people from the excluded countries, and on 9 February the ninth circuit court of appeals upheld that ruling.

Who protested?



The protests happened at airports across the US, including NYC, LA, Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, Ohio and Orlando.

Activists say many of the actions were organic – people heading to airports after reading that others were demonstrating.

Phoebe Hopps, who helped organise the Michigan version of the 21 January Women’s March on Washington DC, said she helped put together a rally at Detroit metropolitan airport on Sunday 29 January with three other women she had met on Facebook. Thousands attended the demonstration.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Protest against the revised travel ban in front of the White House. Photograph: Erik S Lesser/EPA

Transgender bathroom access

The Obama administration had advised public schools that “Title IX” – a federal law prohibiting sexual discrimination in education – covers transgender students. This guidance meant that students could have access to bathrooms and locker rooms that matched their gender identity.

Trump withdrew this guidance on 22 February, in a move that LGBT rights groups said could lead to discrimination against transgender students.

Who is suing?



Juliet Evancho had already filed a lawsuit arguing discrimination in Pennsylvania in September 2016, after being barred from using the women’s bathroom at her school. On 27 February, five days after the Trump administration rescinded protections for transgender students, a federal judge ordered Evancho’s school district to allow her and two other plaintiffs to use bathrooms according to their gender identity.

Evancho’s sister, the former America’s Got Talent contestant Jackie Evancho, performed the national anthem at Trump’s inauguration. Despite this tacit endorsement, Jackie Evancho later implored the president to meet with her and Juliet to discuss transgender rights.

jackie evancho (@jackieevancho) . @realDonaldTrump u gave me the honor 2 sing at your inauguration. Pls give me & my sis the honor 2 meet with u 2 talk #transgender rghts ❤

In a separate case, the ACLU had filed a lawsuit in Virginia on behalf of transgender high school student Gavin Grimm, arguing that he should be allowed to use male bathrooms, before Trump was elected. On 6 March the supreme court returned the case to a lower court in Virginia, which will evaluate whether Title XI protects transgender students.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Gavin Grimm interviewed at his home in Gloucester, Virginia, in 2015. Photograph: Steve Helber/AP

Who is protesting?



Transpac, an organisation which aims to achieve “full and equal rights for transgender people” was involved in organising rallies at Stonewall, the historic bar in Manhattan’s West Village where a series of LGBT protests took place in 1969.

Gothamist reported that thousands of people attended the demonstrations, which were backed by LGBT media-monitoring group Glaad and Marriage Equality USA, among others.

In Washington DC Werk for Peace, the TransWoman of Color Collective (TWOCC) and Empowering the Transgender Community (ETC) organised a dance protest outside the White House.

Dakota Access and other pipelines

After more than a year of protests against the proposed oil pipeline, the Obama administration ordered construction on the Dakota access pipeline be halted in December.



But within days of Trump’s inauguration the president signed an executive order overturning that decision. He introduced another order to revive the Keystone pipeline, which will carry oil from Canada to the Gulf coast.

It now seems increasingly likely that the Dakota Access pipeline will carry oil under Lake Oahe, near the Standing Rock indian reservation – possibly as soon as this month. However, the pipeline protests succeeded in bringing together thousands of protesters and inspired many more.

Who sued?



The Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes filed lawsuits on 14 February citing the previous commitment to stall the Dakota Access pipeline construction. A federal judge decided against the tribes, allowing work to continue.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Harold Frazier, chairman Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, leaves the US district court in Washington DC on 28 February. Photograph: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Who protested?



Thousands of people, from Native American tribes and environmental groups, had been based at the Oceti Sakowin camp for months, but the camp was finally shut down by national guard and law enforcement officers on 23 February.

Protesters have vowed to keep fighting the Dakota Access pipeline, and have also pledged to fight the construction of similar oil-carrying pipelines elsewhere. The Billings Gazette, a Montana newspaper, reported that some people who had been at the Oceti Sakowin camp planned to protest against the Sabal Trail pipeline, being built between eastern Alabama and Florida, and the Diamond Pipeline, set to run from Oklahoma to Tennessee.

Increased border enforcement

A stricter stance on immigration and on treatment of undocumented immigrants was a key part of Trump’s manifesto – he launched his campaign by accusing Mexico of sending “drug dealers” and “rapists” to the US.

On 20 February the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) introduced two memos which would enable federal authorities to target any undocumented migrant who has either been convicted of any sort of crime, has simply been accused of a crime, has carried out minor fraud or is, in the assessment of an immigration officer, “a risk to public safety”.

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The Obama administration had made undocumented immigrants found guilty of serious crimes a priority for deportation ahead of other undocumented people. The change under Trump could potentially affect millions of people.

Who is protesting?



Activist groups had been working in advance of the DHS memos. On 9 February immigration activists, including volunteers from the immigrant advocacy group Puente, blocked gates at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) building in Phoenix, Arizona, after Guadalupe García de Rayos, a Mexican immigrant, was deported. García de Rayos, 36, had been convicted of using a fake social security number but had complied with Ice orders for several years. She had been living in the US since she was 14 years old.

On 17 February thousands of people took part in a “Day without immigrants” protest, closing businesses nationwide. An “Immigrants’ March” is planned for Washington DC on 6 May – more than 130,000 people have registered interest on Facebook.

The National Immigration Law Center and National Immigration Forum have been among the groups critical of the DHS memos. Both provide support to at-risk immigrants.

On 24 February Los Angeles councilman Curren Price announced $1m in grants to the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles and the Central American Resource Center, both of which provide legal support to people at risk of deportation.

Affordable Care Act

Trump spoke about repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act during his campaign. On 6 March Republicans unveiled a new bill which would replace the legislation with a plan that could leave more Americans without health insurance.

Who is protesting



In January, thousands of people across the country answered a call from Senator Bernie Sanders to rally against the prospective healthcare reform.

A group called Save My Care has launched a two-month bus tour across the US to draw attention to the plight of Americans who may lose health insurance if Obamacare is scrapped.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Margalie Williams, a cancer survivor, is hugged after speaking during a rally near Jackson Memorial hospital in Miami, Florida, as part of the Save My Care bus tour. Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Since the new Republican bill was announced, smaller groups have protested outside politicians’ offices. People held a rally protesting the Republican bill outside congressman Darrell Issa’s office in Vista, California, on Wednesday, while Planned Parenthood supporters gathered at congressman Tom Reed’s Ithaca, New York, office.

A group also planned to gather at Republican congressman Brian Fitzpatrick’s Langhorne, Pennsylvania, office on Thursday.

Science and environment

Experts say Trump has a troubling record on climate change and the science supporting it. In his 2015 book Crippled America Trump wrote that he does not believe in climate change, without any explanation.

In a press conference for the book’s launch, the Guardian asked Trump why he did not believe in climate change but did not receive an answer, although in 2012 Donald Trump alleged that “the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive”.

Trump has since appointed Rick Perry as secretary of energy – meaning the former Texas governor is now in charge of a department he once pledged to abolish. Scott Pruitt, the former attorney general of Oklahoma, is the new administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

In 2016 Pruitt wrote that “scientists continue to disagree” about the extent of climate change, despite the overwhelming consensus on the issue from scientists.

Who is protesting?



A “March for Science” is planned for Washington DC on 22 April. Organised by scientists from across the US, the march is intended to “call for science that upholds the common good and for political leaders and policymakers to enact evidence based policies in the public interest”.

Organisations which have partnered with the march include Sigma XI – a non-profit group of 80,000 scientists and engineers, the American Association of University Professors, and the American Geophysical Union.

On 29 April a People’s Climate March will take place in the same city. The People’s Climate Movement – made up of 25 organisations including 350.org, NextGen Climate and the Climate Justice Alliance – is behind the demonstration. In 2014 more than 300,000 people attended the People’s Climate March in New York City.