Justice Department Shifts Focus to Trump’s Priorities Over Civil Rights Protection
TL/DR –
The US Justice Department’s civil rights division is reportedly shifting its focus away from protecting the rights of marginalized groups towards President Trump’s priorities, such as hunting for noncitizen voters and protecting white people from discrimination. Such changes have been acknowledged in new internal mission statements, which were sent to the civil rights division by Harmeet Dhillon, a Trump ally who was confirmed to lead the division recently. Some of the amendments include only slight mentions of the statutes and types of discrimination that have been the division’s focus since its establishment in 1957, with several of the mission statements showcasing Trump’s executive orders as priorities.
US Justice Department Shifts Focus under Trump Leadership
The civil rights division of the US Justice Department appears to be shifting its focus from protecting marginalized groups to prioritizing the aims of Donald Trump, which include seeking out noncitizen voters and guarding against white discrimination. This change in direction is evident in recent internal mission statements reported by the Guardian.
New priorities, communicated by Trump ally Harmeet Dhillon, were disseminated to civil rights division sections recently. Dhillon, who was appointed as head of the division just over two weeks ago, has defined missions that move away from the division’s historic focus on discrimination, established since the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
For example, the mission statement for the voting section scarcely references the Voting Rights Act. Instead, the focus shifts to prevent the extremely rare occurrence of voter fraud and aid states in identifying noncitizen voters. The guidance for the Housing and Civil Enforcement section omits mention of the Fair Housing Act, a 1968 civil rights law that has been a key focus of the department’s work until now.
Former appellate lawyer in the justice department’s civil rights division, Sasha Samberg-Champion, finds the change in focus surprising. The justice department did not immediately comment when asked.
The decision to change the sections’ mission statements is unusual. Although the focus of the sections shifts with each administration, the basic work typically remains consistent. Trump’s move threatens the justice department’s independence, potentially enabling its use for personal political aims and the punishment of political opponents.
Jocelyn Samuels, leader of the civil rights division from 2013 to 2014, suggests that the new mission statements indicate a significant shift in priorities and hint at the expectations of the division’s leadership. Samuels is currently taking legal action against the Trump administration.
The justice department has already begun to withdraw from numerous civil rights cases, including voting cases initiated under the previous administration. Additionally, an environmental justice settlement for Black residents in Alabama has been ended, and a pay discrimination lawsuit on behalf of a Black lawyer against the Mississippi senate has been dropped.
New guidelines shift the voting section’s primary focus from ensuring non-discriminatory voting laws and practices to preventing voter fraud and ensuring only US citizens vote in federal elections. The voting section will collaborate with the Department of Homeland Security to assist states in accessing citizenship data to remove noncitizens from their voter rolls. Several civil rights groups are already contesting this order in court, arguing its illegality.
The new mission statement for the Housing and Civil Enforcement section emphasizes protection of military members’ rights and the enforcement of the Religious Land Use And Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). The guidance also states that the section will “focus on challenges to racially discriminatory lending programs”.
According to the new mission statement, the disability rights section will focus on the priorities and objectives set by President Trump, including a series of executive orders targeting transgender Americans.
Several of the new mission statements include a line that requires attorneys to enforce the law “faithfully and zealously”, showing the administration’s anticipation of resistance from career staff in relation to the changes.
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