For Immediate Release: December 13, 2024
Contact: media@colorofchange.org
COLOR OF CHANGE OPPOSES HARMEET K. DHILLON’S NOMINATION AS ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR CIVIL RIGHTS AT THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
NATIONAL – This week, Donald Trump nominated California Attorney Harmeet K. Dhillon to serve as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice. Dhillon is a clear and present danger to Black communities in the U.S., and the Civil Rights Division deserves better. Under current Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke’s leadership, the Civil Rights Division has worked to protect Black communities from hate crimes and the harms of policing, holding accountable police departments, including those in Chicago, Memphis, and Louisville. The pursuit of justice on behalf of those whose civil rights have been violated is the purpose of the division. Unfortunately, a Civil Rights Division under Dhillon’s leadership will be more concerned with shielding white supremacists from accountability than protecting the people and communities they harm.
Dhillon has dedicated her career to undermining voting rights by spearheading efforts across the country to disenfranchise Black voters. Over the past few years, she has litigated several lawsuits designed to suppress the Black vote in Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, and Virginia — all battleground states that often decide elections. Dhillon has also been one of the lead voices spreading dangerous right-wing conspiracies regarding public servants. If the Senate confirms Dhillon, Trump will have an AAG who will chip away at our civil rights laws that have opened pathways to opportunity for Black people by outlawing discrimination. Dhillon will likely further endanger the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and weaponize the Civil Rights Act of 1964 against the very communities Congress intended to protect. Dhillon will use her role to target universities, social media companies, and left-leaning groups that disagree with the Trump administration. She will also use government resources to tear down critical civil rights laws that protect people on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity. This division requires a leader who will uphold the principle of justice under the law. Dhillon is not equipped to enforce our most critical civil rights laws.
Portia Allen-Kyle, Managing Director of Color Of Change, issued the following statement:
“The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice has been one of the leading defenders of civil rights, prosecuting the individuals involved in the deaths of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner — civil rights workers fighting for voting rights in the South in 1964. It was involved in the investigations of the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Medgar Evers. At every turn, the Civil Rights Division has worked to uphold the civil and constitutional rights of every person in this country. Dhillon’s nomination is an affront to the many freedom fighters — past and present — who put their lives on the line so that everyone has access to the ballot box and would tarnish the storied history of such an important institution. I encourage members of the Senate to oppose this nomination. We need a better class of legal minds leading the charge for civil rights at the DOJ. We cannot let this nomination stand.”
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