Rights groups sue Trump administration over executive orders targeting DEIA initiatives News
Sgt. Alicia Brand, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Rights groups sue Trump administration over executive orders targeting DEIA initiatives

Three human rights organizations filed a lawsuit against US President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday, claiming his recent executive orders “falsely assert” that diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) initiatives are “illegal.”

The plaintiffs are the National Urban League, the National Fair Housing Alliance, and the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. They claim that three of Trump’s recent executive orders (EOs) extend beyond the scope of his presidential authority and violate the First and Fifth Amendments to the US Constitution. The challenged orders include EO 14151 and EO 14173, which aim to end DEIA initiatives, and EO 14168, which ends gender identity terminology in federal policies.

In their factual allegations, the plaintiffs argue that the orders are vague by failing to define terms such as “diversity, equity, and inclusion.” Due to this ambiguity, the plaintiffs assert there could be a “broad chilling effect” on their protected speech activity as “there is no objective way to determine which speech activities are permitted and which are prohibited.” The plaintiffs also believe the orders contain no clear standards for enforcement, which broadens the discretion available to federal officials when enforcing their policies.

Similarly, the plaintiffs claim the orders would injure them by preventing them from doing work “central to their organizational missions” as all three organizations express viewpoints to “promote the equal rights of people of color, women, LGBTQ people, and people with disabilities.” In their claims for relief, the plaintiffs reason that the orders violate the First Amendment by suppressing constitutionally protected activity, such as preventing the plaintiffs from expressing DEIA viewpoints by “leveraging the federal funding that is key” to their operations.

Trump’s Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt previously explained in a press briefing following the orders that “this nation has been plagued and crippled by illegal discrimination: diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. It strangled our economy.”

Meanwhile, large US companies, including Target, Walmart and Amazon, have discontinued their DEI initiatives throughout the past year. The ACLU, a prominent civil rights advocacy organization, characterized the effect of Trump’s orders:

More broadly, the orders seek to intimidate all employers—ranging from private organizations and federal contractors and grantees to state and local entities—into abandoning DEIA initiatives, using vague and threatening language to create fear of enforcement actions. The strategy is clear: Bully everyone into dropping programs that ensure equitable workplaces by falsely equating diversity efforts with discrimination.

 

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