— An earlier version was printed as an Op-Ed in Newsweek on Feb. 18, 2025.
Human rights are under attack. And we all need to speak up.
At Rainforest Action Network (RAN), we have been working to raise the alarm on human rights violations for decades. Child labor and human trafficking associated with palm oil plantations; Indigenous lands being stolen for fossil fuel production and short-term profits; communities forced to live with air and water pollution caused by resource extraction — these are some of the human rights issues RAN highlights in our work to improve corporate practices and policies.
But today, we are witnessing a new systematic assault on human rights in the United States. The new administration has unleashed an unprecedented number of executive orders and administrative actions designed to chip away at the dignity and basic rights of our friends and family members. And we refuse to remain silent.
The open aggression toward the immigrant community in this country — a nation built on the backs of immigrants — has been relentless. The lies and deliberate dehumanization of immigrants coming from the administration rings of some of the darkest moments in world history. From encouraging community members to inform on “suspected” immigrants to reversing protections of schools, hospitals and churches from raids, the unfounded fear and manufactured hatred being generated is shocking. And the focus on the latino community is the manifestation of an ugly racist agenda.
In January, as divers were searching the Potomac River for victims of the horrific plane crash in Washington D.C., the new president used that moment to baselessly attack diversity programs. Aside from the lack of basic human compassion on display, this was a gross effort to equate diversity with incompetence. With absolutely no evidence or basis of fact, the president used a tragedy to promote the idea that striving for equal opportunity, diversity and equity were dangerous ideals, rather than a long-needed response to historical inequality.
And much like the administration’s effort to erase the overwhelming science that is warning of climate change catastrophes, this administration is also ignoring the prevailing best medical scientific research, denying life affirming health care, and trying to prevent transgender and non-binary people from participating in civic life. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has already partially purged terms and some related data around “transgender,” “L.G.B.T.” and “pregnant persons,” from their websites — an egregiously unscientific effort that can threaten the lives and basic rights of millions. These ideological and political efforts will have real and disastrous impacts on the lives of people in our communities and all around the world.
At RAN, our work is deeply rooted in science and data based research. When we inform corporations, like brands, insurers or banks, that their supply chains or lending policies are causing forests to be destroyed or watersheds to be polluted, we outline the steps they can take to correct their course. But respect for and protection of the human rights of communities affected by their policies is non-negotiable — that is our first and primary demand. And that is why this work is so critical to stabilize our climate, to prevent more frequent and more devastating hurricanes and wildfires. These increasing extreme weather disasters create instability in our economy and destroy communities and lives.
Creating instability and placing lives at risk has become a keystone of the new administration in just a matter of weeks. The president’s callous and capricious executive order freezing foreign assistance is potentially his greatest threat to human rights across the globe. By halting work from the U.S. Agency for International Development — for ostensibly failing to promote his “America First” agenda — President Trump has destabilized entire vulnerable regions and ended decades of progress in economic development, participatory democracy, health, and human rights overnight.
Schools. Medication and medical equipment. Environmental protection efforts. Vaccination programs. Media organizations. Literacy programs — millions of people from Thailand to the Congo to Peru are suddenly at risk of losing critical support for their basic needs. The freeze — and potential end of USAID’s support to countless programs will weaken efforts to promote democracy and halt programs designed to protect human rights in countries where civil society faces very real and very deadly threats. Abby Maxman, CEO and president of Oxfam America, has warned of “deadly consequences for millions of people living in dire humanitarian emergencies and extreme poverty.”
These programs support conservation and improving the lives of Indigenous peoples in the Brazilian Amazon; protect more than 600,000 people in civil-war-torn Sudan from catching and spreading cholera, malaria and measles; fund the removal of landmines in Cambodia; and educate young girls in secret schools in Afghanistan after the Taliban banned them from learning beyond the sixth grade — just to name a very few.
At RAN, we have been supporting grassroots organizations through our grants program for more than 30 years — because we know that building capacity within Indigenous and frontline communities is critical to preserving human rights and protecting our planet. Yet, the biggest aid program in the world is shutting its doors until their political tests can be met. It is yet another shocking disgrace.
Today, as we bear witness to this coordinated assault on basic human rights here in the United States, we will not stand by silently. We remain committed to fight for human rights and to solidarity with all communities under threat.
Because these assaults on humanity, these lines of division that are being drawn — they are not only cruel, they represent a strategy to distract us, to divide us, and to consolidate power. We have seen this before, and we know that the greatest progress comes when we unite together. RAN will always fight for solidarity and progress, for the rights and equality of all. We are stronger together.
— Ginger Cassady is the Executive Director at Rainforest Action Network
