By ALLISON KITE
Kansas Reflector
Civil rights activists in Kansas are staffing up and engaging with local officials to prepare for a second Donald Trump presidency, the ACLU of Kansas said Friday.
Executive director Micah Kubic told reporters the organization has a three-part strategy for Trump’s second term, including attempting to expand civil rights protections at the local level, preparing for ultra-conservative bills in the Kansas Legislature and filing strategic lawsuits to stop “extremist” policies.
Working proactively at the local level to expand voting rights and other civil liberties, Kubic said, will be more effective than simply reacting to Trump policies the ACLU opposes.
“It really does show folks that we need not live in a defensive crouch,” Kubic said. “We need not be despondent about attacks that we may see from Washington, but instead that we have some control over our own destiny, we can make lives better here.”
That will let “those in power know to not collaborate in the extremism,” Kubic said.
Kubic said he anticipates that Trump’s second term, which begins in January, will bring “more attacks on civil liberties and civil rights … than any of us have seen in our lifetimes,” including policies about immigration, voting, LGBTQ rights and abortion access.
Working at the local level, Kubic said, will help if the federal government seeks to compel local officials to assist with policies like mass deportations.
“When the Trump administration comes calling,” Kubic said, “we want there to be a firewall in place at the local level from elected officials who know that is not something that their own voters, their own constituents, the residents of their places want them to do.”
At the same time, Kubic said, the ACLU will keep working to mobilize state lawmakers to block legislation the organization opposes. He said the organization had success defeating “attacks on voting rights” and a proposed ban on gender-affirming healthcare.
Kubic said he also expected abortion rights to be an issue in the Kansas Legislature, despite the state’s 2022 vote to keep abortion enshrined in the Kansas Constitution.
“We’re able to defeat them because there is a large number of Kansans who don’t want that stuff. … Regardless of how they voted on Election Day, we know that Kansans don’t want bodily autonomy to be restricted,” he said.
The ACLU of Kansas’ fledgling political action committee, Kansans United for Civil Liberties, will continue, Kubic said. The ACLU spent money educating voters in opposition to candidates in 10 legislative races in November, but only one of those candidates was defeated.
The ACLU’s most prominent work, its litigation efforts, will also continue, he said.
“We will sue anybody who needs suing when the time comes,” Kubic said. “ … We have been preparing for the Trump administration in particular for a very long time.”
While the ACLU’s views on those issues often align with those of Democrats, Kubic said the organization has worked to pursue its priorities no matter who is in power. He noted the ACLU criticized Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, for signing legislation stopping Wyandotte County from issuing identification cards to undocumented immigrants.