As we have already informed on our Blog, the return of Donald Trump to the White House influenced the status quo of human rights in the entire world. In the midst of the unprecedented cuts to US foreign aid, but also worldwide tariffs reaching almost the scale of a trade war, outrageous proposals for a forced displacement of the inhabitants of Gaza, or unpredictably changing stances on Russia and Ukraine, one can easily lag behind all the latest Trump’s steps shaping the state of human rights in the US itself. However, it might be primarily the situation inside the US which deserves global attention now. What has changed in this aspect during the last half year, and what might be expected in the following months?
Equity and Inclusion as a Hindrance
Several of the whirlwind of executive orders signed by Trump on the very first days of his second mandate touched upon the issue of supporting egalitarian and inclusive society. The two of the three most influential orders in this area focus on complete ending of the so-called DEI and DEIA programmes and policies [1] promoted or financed by the Federal Government, and on justifying this decision by the alleged defence of civil rights and safety of Americans.
Altogether, Trump presents these initiatives striving for greater diversity and equality of opportunities for everyone as “forced illegal and immoral discrimination programs” which undermine American national unity and value of individual merit and achievement. However, these policies have been pivotal in straightening historical injustices and advancements of rights of systematically marginalised and underrepresented groups, particularly on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, or disability.
Experts warn that the backlash against DEI(A) efforts will have far-reaching impacts on inclusiveness and social justice, as well as unintended and indirect consequences reflected in similar repercussions in the private sector and widening of existing inequalities and political polarisation.
The third executive order, which is crucial in this context, claims to “defend women from gender ideology extremism” and decrees the US to recognise only two not-changeable and incontrovertible sexes, male and female. This way, it significantly limits fundamental rights of LGBTQIA+ people.
Nevertheless, at the same time, women are themselves among those who have seen their rights significantly threatened by the Trump administration. Moreover, the risks for them highly exceed the closely watched restrictions of access to abortion and reproductive health care.[2] Trump’s actions have resulted also in important worsening of opportunities for women on the labour market and in the workplace, from the increased risk of wage discrimination to firings of influential women in key posts in federal agencies protecting employees from unfair treatment.
Savings for the Privileged, Unbearable Costs for the Vulnerable
Besides women and racial and gender minorities, the poor are also greatly suffering from the consequences of the second Trump’s administration – and frequently, all these vulnerabilities are cumulative and intersectional and leave the affected communities disproportionately harmed.
The milestone in the first months of the second Trump’s mandate was the adoption of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on July 4. While Trump has been emphasising that it would stabilise the national economy, the nonpartisan government research agency called the Congressional Budget Office on the contrary cautions that it can significantly increase federal deficits during the next 10 years due to the cuts to important social services.
The Congressional Budget Office has calculated that the Bill would benefit the wealthiest while harming the poorest – concretely, the resources of the 10% of the richest households could increase on average by 2.3%, whilst the resources of the 10% of the lowest-earning households could decrease on average by almost 4%.
This discrepancy stems from the fact that the Bill introduces important cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program providing healthcare and food assistance for low-income populations. The Congressional Budget Office predicts that 11.8 million people would lose their health insurance by 2034, and health economist Brooke Nichols estimates that almost 30,000 Americans have already died because of these cuts by mid-August 2025.
From the American Dream to the Reality of Expulsion and Detention
On the contrary, the Bill counts with increased investment in defence and border spending, in harmony with Trump’s election promise to crack down on immigration. While the number of arrests at the US-Mexico border was at a record low during the first half of the year 2025, suggesting less attempts to cross the border, the amount of deportations has not met the promised quantity yet.
In March, there was a well-known incident concerning about 250 Venezuelans who were deported to a counter-terrorism prison in El Salvador under the pretext of a suspicion of participation in an organised crime group and on the legal basis of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 [3]. According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Alien Enemies Act is incompatible with contemporary international human rights and refugee law, and the affected individuals were subjected to enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention. The Venezuelans were released in mid-July 2025 and testified about torture in the Salvadorean prison.
At the same time, arrests inside the US and raids against migrants have been abundant and highly publicised. In result, detention centres across the country are overcrowded, and the conditions and practices in them do not comply with human rights standards. A recent HRW report found that almost three quarters of the more than 50,000 people in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention did not have any criminal history, that the detainees were frequently denied access to basic hygiene facilities and medical care, and that at least 11 people have died in ICE custody since the beginning of 2025, at least two of them in connection with medical and staff neglect.[4]
Police and Military on the Rise, Justice and Academia under Pressure
In line with the enhanced efforts allegedly dedicated to the fight against illegal immigration, Donald Trump has also initiated far-reaching changes in the functioning of police and law enforcement. Under the pretext of the increased attention to pursuing criminals, his another executive order expanded the Federal Government’s power over local and state police, including the increased provision of military assets to them.
HRW’s analysis of the executive order reveals that it can most likely result in vanishing of accountability for abuses of power by local and state police officials; and that it echoes the wider change in priorities in the executive and in the Department of Justice from beneficial civil rights and anti-corruption litigation towards exclusive focus on immigration enforcement.
Furthermore, Trump’s intimidation on the judiciary is clear and unprecedented. The executive order Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court effectively orders the Attorney General to seek sanctions against lawyers and law firms who engage in lawsuits against the US and Trump’s policies, and thus attempts to impede the independent judicial oversight of the executive. As of mid-August 2025, close to 400 lawsuits tried to challenge Trump’s actions, with various levels of success and often with ongoing legal battles. Anyway, judges across the country are under increasing pressure, including insults from the President and anonymous death threats from the public.
A similar quarrel as with the judiciary was unleashed with the academia. Professor of law Robert Post cautions that while academic freedom in the US is frequently defended in courts under the framework of individual freedom of speech, the concept of academic freedom is much wider and with broad impacts for the whole society – essentially, it comprises freedom of thought, of inquiry, of discussion, and of teaching. The diverse negative consequences of Trump’s actions are already manifesting themselves in academia and research.
Alongside assaults on prominent universities such as Harvard or Columbia, domains and institutions that have found themselves in the first line in this clash include among others the arts and humanities or climate science. The cuts to research funding and grants have already shown themselves in reality, for example regarding the prevention of floods in Texas at the beginning of July. Last but not least, Reporters Without Borders assesses that the US “is experiencing its first significant and prolonged decline in press freedom in modern history”, and that particularly under the influence of the second Trump administration.
How Could the Future of the US Look Like?
The first Trump’s mandate as the President of the US ended with the unprecedented January 6 attack on the Capitol, the seat of the US Congress, by Trump’s supporters contesting the victory of Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential elections. After only one eighth of Trump’s second term, much of the rest of this mandate is still in the unknown, but prospects are worrisome.
With the first ever convicted US President, with record levels of polarisation between Republicans and Democrats in the population, and with intensifying efforts to preserve the political power by all available means in the hands of the Republican Party, to name just a few examples, all seems to support the words of the executive director of Amnesty International USA Paul O’Brien that the Trump’s administration’s actions amount “to a sweeping attack on human rights and the systems that uphold them”. It is precisely the robustness of these systems that will probably be decisive for the shape of the future of the US, alongside with the whole world.
Notes
[1] Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) initiatives denote policies and activities with targeted efforts to promote a fair and egalitarian society open to everyone without discrimination. They originated in the 1960s after the adoption of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and initially concerned primarily Black Americans, but progressively expanded their reach to women, LGBTQIA+ community, people with disabilities, and other racial minorities. The latest wave of support of DEI(A) initiatives occurred in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement since 2020.
[2] As of August 2025, abortion is completely banned and illegal in 12 States, and it is protected by state law in 21 States and the District of Columbia. Restrictions on reproductive rights also include restraints on access to contraceptive care, censorship of reproductive health information, and intimidation of lawyers defending reproductive rights.
[3] The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 is an outdated legal norm enabling arrest and mass deportation of dangerous foreign-born nationals on the territory of the US. Donald Trump was the fourth President to use it, and the first one to do so in peacetime.
[4] HRW points out that the discovered realities in the detention centres violate US binding obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, as well as the non-binding UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Mandela Rules) and ICE’s own standards for minimum requirements of detention.
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Photograph
The US has lost its reputation as a world leader in the matters of human rights and democracy. Replica of the Statue of Liberty at Île aux Cygnes in Paris, author: Daniela Skácelíková, 15 August 2025.
