Protests have ignited across the nation in the first weeks of the Trump Presidency, with protests against Trump’s deportation policies taking place in Arizona, Arkansas, Missouri, Georgia, and North Carolina. In Los Angeles, the 101 freeway was shut down on February 2 to bring awareness to the threats to migrant and immigrant populations.
Hundreds of Californians rallied at the State Capitol in California on February 5. People of all ages and ethnicities poured in from across the state. They raised the flags of the United States, as well as Mexico and Canada, and held high their homemade signs –
- “Without Diversity, There Would Be No Tacos!”
- “We Deserve Better, Seriously This Is Bulls—t!”
- “Where Is Congress?”
- “We the People, Fighting Fascism!”
- “LBGTQ Rights Are American Rights!”
- “We The People Are All Immigrants!”
While the Trump/Musk attack on federal agencies is broad-based, and will impact people in all walks of life, poor and unhoused communities – disproportionately people of color — are being specially targeted. This is already happening. In just one example, last week’s “pause” or cancellation of all federal grants and payments only lasted for one day – but, as reported in LAist on February 7, money for Head Start’s child care programs that serve thousands of poor children, continues to be delayed in the aftermath of the freeze.
The executive orders outlawing “DEI” (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) in all federal agencies will protect and perpetuate racist and discriminatory practices in federal housing programs and block enforcement of civil rights laws, as reported by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (1/24/25). The executive order for a hiring freeze will weaken the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) which administers housing programs like Section 8 (Housing Choice Vouchers) and other low-income housing investments. The removal of protections for transgender people will strip away fair housing and legal protections in shelters and public housing. The executive order which attacks “sanctuary jurisdictions” that have refused cooperation with ICE and federal immigration enforcement, is intended to block federal funding of their local and state housing programs. The executive order lifting restrictions on ICE arrests in shelters and disaster relief centers will drive away vulnerable migrant and immigrant community members who are in crisis.
Beyond the immediate impact of the executive orders, the Trump administration, with the cooperation of many in Congress, has announced its intention to cut $2 trillion from the $6.75 trillion federal budget. Experts from the Brookings Institution, analyzing budget proposals submitted during Trump’s former term, have projected that crucial supports for poor and unhoused people will be reduced and eliminated on a scale that hasn’t been seen since the 1930s, during the Great Depression.
These cuts, which were previously proposed but blocked by Congress or the courts, include dismantling the benefits of Food Stamps, Medicaid, and Social Security Disability Income (SSI) which sustain the bare survival needs of many unhoused people. Here’s a look at what can be expected on the basis of the past budget proposals:
- Blocking Food Stamps (SNAP) benefits for 3 million people with incomes between 130% to 200% of the poverty line ($20,000-$31,000 per year) and ending minimum benefits, impacting an additional 2 million people;
- Requiring states to pay 25% of Food Stamp costs, and permitting reduction of benefit levels;
- Eliminating Food Stamps benefits for people aged 18-49 who are not disabled or raising children at home, with various work requirements and time limitations enforced;
- Repealing the ACA (“Obamacare”) and eliminating its Medicaid expansion, which extended coverage to people below 133% of the poverty line;
- Imposing funding caps on Medicaid as part of $1 trillion funding cut over 10 years;
- Raising rents for Section 8 (Housing Choice Voucher) tenants, eliminating assistance with utility expenses, and ending federal funding for a range of local low income housing construction programs;
- Cutting Supplemental Social Security Income (SSI), reducing eligibility for benefits and eliminating or reducing other types of cash assistance (like child welfare or TANF).
The list is daunting but it can and must be fought, item by item, budget line by budget line. Check in with your community. This is the time to study, understand, and get involved.
The day after the election, the Sunrise Movement tweeted: “Trump loves corporations even more than Democrats do, but he ran an anti-establishment campaign that gave an answer to people’s desire for change.” As social movements respond to outrage over Trump’s policies and tie their actions to a real agenda for transformative change, they puncture the pretense that he offers any sort of real alternative to a democracy ruled by elites and an economy designed to serve the wealthy. “We can stop him, and we must,” Sunrise added. “But it’s going to take many thousands of people taking to the streets and preparing to strike. And it’s going to take mass movements putting out a better vision for our country than Trumpism and proving that we can make it happen.”
