Day 1
January 20, 2025
38 documented events
- War Crime / Crime Against Humanity Deportation to Torture
Administration escalates immigration enforcement
Trump administration takes office and begins escalating immigration enforcement operations in Florida.
From: Torture and Enforced Disappearances at 'Alligator Alcatraz' and Krome Detention Centers
- Major Abuse of Power Press Freedom
Executive order on speech and censorship
Trump signs 'Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship,' framing the administration's approach to media and platform regulation.
From: FCC Broadcast License Threats and Government Coercion of Media
- Serious Rights Violation Civil Rights
Executive order directs development of new travel restrictions
President Trump signs an executive order on inauguration day directing the development of new travel bans for national security purposes, signaling an expansion beyond the first-term restrictions.
From: Expanded Travel Ban Targeting Up to 39 Countries, Predominantly Muslim and African Nations
- Serious Rights Violation Deportation & Immigration
Executive order directing termination of parole programs
President Trump signed Executive Order 14165 ('Securing Our Borders'), directing the DHS Secretary to terminate all categorical parole programs deemed contrary to the new administration's immigration policies.
From: Termination of CHNV Humanitarian Parole for 532,000 People
- Serious Rights Violation Civil Rights
ICE operations begin near tribal lands
Following the inauguration, expanded ICE enforcement operations begin occurring near and on tribal lands across the Southwest. The Navajo Nation begins documenting encounters between ICE agents and tribal citizens.
- Serious Rights Violation Foreign Policy & War
US State Department determines RSF committed genocide in Sudan
The State Department concludes that members of the Rapid Support Forces and allied militias have committed genocide in Sudan. Human Rights Watch and a UN panel have documented RSF atrocities in West Darfur, including ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity against the Masalit people.
From: Emergency Arms Sales to Gulf States: $23 Billion Bypassing Congressional Review
- Serious Rights Violation Corruption & Self-Dealing
Musk assumes DOGE leadership
Elon Musk begins leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with broad access to federal agencies, while his companies hold over $38 billion in cumulative government contracts and funding.
From: CFPB Dismantlement While Musk Launches Competing XMoney Payment Service
- Serious Rights Violation Civil Rights
All refugee admissions suspended except for white South Africans
On Inauguration Day, Trump signs an executive order shutting down all refugee admissions globally while making a single, explicit exception for white South Africans. This is the only population exempted from the suspension.
From: White Afrikaner Refugee Program: 1,648 of 1,651 US Refugees Are White South Africans
- Major Abuse of Power Civil Rights
Executive Orders Targeting Transgender Rights and Gender Identity Recognition
Executive Order 14168 defines gender as an immutable male-female binary, requires housing transgender detainees by birth sex, withholds gender-affirming care in federal facilities, and prohibits gender self-identification on federal documents, creating documented risks of violence and denial of medical care.
From: Executive Orders Targeting Transgender Rights and Gender Identity Recognition
- Serious Rights Violation Deportation & Immigration
Suspension of Asylum at the Southern Border
On his first day in office, President Trump signed an executive order suspending the ability of migrants to seek asylum at the southern border, effectively shutting down all avenues for protection claims. A federal judge struck down the order as exceeding presidential authority, but the administration continued to enforce the ban during appeal.
- Major Abuse of Power Civil Rights
Executive Order Attempting to Restrict Fourteenth Amendment Birthright Citizenship
Executive Order 14160 attempted to deny U.S. citizenship to children born on American soil to parents present temporarily or without lawful status, directly contradicting the plain language of the Fourteenth Amendment. Four federal district courts and two appeals courts blocked it. The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case in its 2025-26 term.
From: Executive Order Attempting to Restrict Fourteenth Amendment Birthright Citizenship
- Serious Rights Violation Deportation & Immigration
CBP One App Shutdown: 30,000 Asylum Appointments Cancelled, 270,000 Stranded
Within hours of taking office on January 20, 2025, the Trump administration shut down the CBP One app — the primary legal pathway for asylum seekers to schedule appointments at the southern border. Approximately 30,000 existing appointments were cancelled instantly, and an estimated 270,000 migrants who had been using the app were left stranded in Mexican border cities with no alternative legal pathway.
From: CBP One App Shutdown: 30,000 Asylum Appointments Cancelled, 270,000 Stranded
- Serious Rights Violation Foreign Policy & War
Intensified Cuba Sanctions Regime: Blackouts, Hospital Shutdowns, and Collective Punishment
Beyond the January 2026 oil embargo, the broader US sanctions regime against Cuba has been systematically tightened since January 2025, causing 20-hour blackouts, hospital shutdowns, medication shortages affecting 5 million people with chronic illnesses, and collapse of basic services including water, sanitation, and public transport. UN human rights experts condemned the measures as likely amounting to collective punishment of civilians, with fuel imports cut by approximately 90 percent.
From: Intensified Cuba Sanctions Regime: Blackouts, Hospital Shutdowns, and Collective Punishment
- Major Abuse of Power Civil Rights
Federal Death Penalty Expansion and Discriminatory Application
On January 20, 2025, Trump signed an executive order reversing Biden's moratorium on federal executions and directing the attorney general to seek the death penalty for all 'appropriate' cases — and in all cases of murder of law enforcement officers or murders committed by undocumented immigrants 'regardless of other factors.' AG Bondi issued implementing guidance on February 5, 2025. The mandatory pursuit of capital punishment specifically for immigrants creates a two-tier system where the same crime carries different consequences based on immigration status.
From: Federal Death Penalty Expansion and Discriminatory Application
- Major Abuse of Power Civil Rights
DOGE-Directed Elimination of Federal DEI Programs and Mass Firings of DEI Workers
On his first day in office, President Trump signed Executive Order 14151 directing the termination of all federal diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, offices, and positions. DOGE implemented the purge through a three-phase playbook, placing workers on administrative leave within hours and directing agencies to compile lists of DEI employees for termination. Thousands of federal workers were fired — many of whom had nothing to do with DEI in their current roles.
From: DOGE-Directed Elimination of Federal DEI Programs and Mass Firings of DEI Workers
- Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern Corruption & Self-Dealing
DOGE Associates Gained Access to $6 Trillion Treasury Payment System
Elon Musk's DOGE associates — including a 25-year-old engineer with racist social media posts and a Broadcom executive — were granted access to the Treasury Department's Bureau of the Fiscal Service payment system, which processes over $6 trillion in annual payments. One associate was mistakenly given 'write' access capable of altering payment records. Multiple court battles ensued, with a federal judge calling the approach 'chaotic and haphazard,' but an appeals court ultimately lifted restrictions.
From: DOGE Associates Gained Access to $6 Trillion Treasury Payment System
- Serious Rights Violation Rule of Law
Weaponization of the Department of Justice: Retaliatory Investigations and Prosecutions
The Trump administration established a 'Weaponization Working Group' at the DOJ led by political loyalist Ed Martin, fired over 20 DOJ officials who worked on Trump investigations, indicted political opponents Letitia James and James Comey on charges later dismissed as brought by an unlawfully appointed prosecutor, gutted the Civil Rights Division (70% of lawyers departed), dismantled the Public Integrity Section, and drove over 100 prosecutors to resign citing political interference — constituting the most aggressive politicization of federal law enforcement in modern American history.
From: Weaponization of the Department of Justice: Retaliatory Investigations and Prosecutions
- Serious Rights Violation Federal Dismantlement
Systematic Destruction of Environmental Protections — Paris Agreement, UNFCCC, and Endangerment Finding
The Trump administration withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the IPCC — an unprecedented triple withdrawal from the international climate architecture. The EPA rescinded the 2009 endangerment finding that greenhouse gases threaten public health, targeted 31+ environmental rules for rollback, and imposed a 10-for-1 deregulation mandate. The combined effect dismantles decades of environmental protection and removes the US from global climate governance.
- Serious Rights Violation Deportation & Immigration
Family Separations and Prolonged Child Detention Under Immigration Enforcement
The Trump administration detained parents of at least 11,000 US citizen children in the first seven months of the second term. The Office of Refugee Resettlement virtually stopped releasing children to relatives, average custody time rose from one month to over six months, and a KFF Health News investigation found officials were using children as bait to lure and arrest parents.
From: Family Separations and Prolonged Child Detention Under Immigration Enforcement
- Serious Rights Violation Federal Dismantlement
FEMA Dismantlement — Budget Cuts, Mass Layoffs, and Destruction of Disaster Response Capacity
The Trump administration has systematically dismantled FEMA through a combination of budget cuts ($646 million proposed reduction), mass layoffs (from 29,000 to 23,000 employees, with plans to cut 50% of the total workforce), elimination of grant programs including the BRIC disaster preparedness program, and termination of disaster response staff. The surge workforce — teams that deploy after major disasters — faces an 85% cut. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and President Trump have publicly stated their intent to dismantle or fundamentally restructure the agency.
From: FEMA Dismantlement — Budget Cuts, Mass Layoffs, and Destruction of Disaster Response Capacity
- Major Abuse of Power Military Overreach
Military and Economic Threats Against Greenland and Panama Canal Sovereignty
The Trump administration made threats of military and economic force to annex Greenland and 'take back' the Panama Canal, including directing the Pentagon to develop military invasion plans. Seven European leaders issued a joint statement, and the threats were partially walked back at Davos in January 2026.
From: Military and Economic Threats Against Greenland and Panama Canal Sovereignty
- Serious Rights Violation Deportation & Immigration
Record Expansion of ICE Deportation Flights to 79 Countries
In the first year of the second Trump administration, ICE Air conducted 2,253 deportation flights to 79 countries -- a 46% increase in flights and 76% increase in destinations over the previous year. Domestic transfer 'shuffle' flights surged 132% to 9,066. Airlines increasingly hid aircraft details from flight trackers. Human Rights First documented flights to 25 countries that had never previously received ICE deportation flights.
From: Record Expansion of ICE Deportation Flights to 79 Countries
- Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern Deportation to Torture
Record ICE Detention Deaths and Medical Care Payment Halt
Since January 2025, 46 people have died in ICE custody or detention facilities — a two-decade high. The death rate reached 5.6 per 10,000 detainees in 2025, the highest since the COVID-19 pandemic year. In October 2025, ICE halted payments to medical care contractors after the VA terminated a reimbursement agreement, leading some medical providers to deny services to detainees even as the detained population broke records.
From: Record ICE Detention Deaths and Medical Care Payment Halt
- Serious Rights Violation Deportation & Immigration
Rescission of ICE Sensitive Locations Policy — Churches, Schools, and Hospitals Open to Raids
On January 20, 2025, the Trump administration rescinded the longstanding policy protecting churches, schools, hospitals, and other sensitive locations from ICE enforcement operations. The policy change led to a 2,450% surge in arrests of people with no criminal record, rising from 6% of ICE detainees in January 2025 to 41% by December 2025. ICE's detainee population reached a record 73,000.
From: Rescission of ICE Sensitive Locations Policy — Churches, Schools, and Hospitals Open to Raids
- Serious Rights Violation Rule of Law
Blanket Clemency for January 6 Defendants, Including Violent Offenders
On his first day back in office, Trump granted sweeping clemency to January 6 defendants, issuing full pardons for most and commuting 14 remaining sentences, including for people convicted of assaulting police officers and leaders of groups convicted of seditious conspiracy.
From: Blanket Clemency for January 6 Defendants, Including Violent Offenders
- Serious Rights Violation Corruption & Self-Dealing
Musk's $38 Billion Government Contract Empire Untouched While Leading DOGE Cuts
Elon Musk led DOGE in terminating billions in government contracts while his own companies — SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink, and others — hold over $38 billion in cumulative government contracts, loans, and subsidies. Not a single Musk company contract was terminated. SpaceX received a $5.9 billion Pentagon contract during the DOGE cuts. Musk was left to police his own conflicts of interest.
From: Musk's $38 Billion Government Contract Empire Untouched While Leading DOGE Cuts
- Serious Rights Violation Federal Dismantlement
OSHA Workplace Safety Dismantlement: 60+ Rules Rolled Back and 223 Inspectors Eliminated
The Trump administration has proposed eliminating or revising over 60 OSHA workplace safety regulations, cut 223 inspector positions, slashed penalties for small employers, and frozen rulemaking on heat illness prevention — all while approximately 5,000 workers die from traumatic injuries and an estimated 140,000 die from occupational diseases annually in the United States.
From: OSHA Workplace Safety Dismantlement: 60+ Rules Rolled Back and 223 Inspectors Eliminated
- Major Abuse of Power Corruption & Self-Dealing
Systematic Pardons of Political Allies and Financial Criminals — $1.3 Billion in Victim Restitution Erased
President Trump has granted clemency to over 88 individuals in his second term, with more than half convicted of white-collar crimes including money laundering, bank fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion. The pardons have erased over $298 million in individual fines and restitution, and House Democrats estimate $1.3 billion total in victim repayment wiped out. Trump pardoned 20 corrupt politicians, fired the head of the Office of the Pardon Attorney, and largely dismantled the DOJ Public Integrity Section that investigates political corruption.
- Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern Deportation & Immigration
Deportation and Medical Neglect of Pregnant Women in ICE Custody
Between January 2025 and February 2026, ICE deported 363 pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women, with 16 miscarriages recorded in custody. Women reported being shackled while actively miscarrying, denied prenatal care, and subjected to invasive medical procedures without consent. As of February 2026, 86 pregnant women were in ICE custody, including 9 in their final trimester, in violation of ICE's own directive against detaining pregnant individuals.
From: Deportation and Medical Neglect of Pregnant Women in ICE Custody
- Serious Rights Violation Civil Rights
Systematic Racial Profiling in Immigration Enforcement and Wrongful Detention of US Citizens
ICE enforcement under the Trump administration has produced systematic racial profiling, with Latinos accounting for 9 out of 10 arrests in the first six months of 2025, 76% of raids targeting majority-Latino neighborhoods, and the Supreme Court clearing the way for ICE agents to use race as grounds for immigration stops. Multiple US citizens have been wrongfully detained — one for 10 days — based on their appearance. At least 170 citizen detentions were confirmed by ProPublica by October 2025. Border czar Tom Homan acknowledged ICE has made 'collateral arrests' of 'many' American citizens.
From: Systematic Racial Profiling in Immigration Enforcement and Wrongful Detention of US Citizens
- Serious Rights Violation Deportation & Immigration
Indefinite Suspension of US Refugee Admissions Program and Record-Low Resettlement Cap
On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order indefinitely suspending the US Refugee Admissions Program. The administration later set the lowest refugee admissions cap in US history at 7,500 for FY 2026 -- down from 125,000 under Biden -- with priority allocated to white South African Afrikaners. Litigation in Pacito v. Trump resulted in limited court-ordered admissions before the Ninth Circuit largely reversed the injunction.
From: Indefinite Suspension of US Refugee Admissions Program and Record-Low Resettlement Cap
- Major Abuse of Power Civil Rights
Restrictions on Reproductive Rights and Comstock Act Revival
The Trump administration has enacted or initiated at least 7 of 29 Project 2025 reproductive rights objectives, including withdrawing from EMTALA abortion lawsuits, prohibiting USAID reproductive health funding, banning DoD abortion travel funding, restoring the Title X 'gag rule,' enforcing the Hyde Amendment, and laying groundwork to misuse the 1873 Comstock Act to effectively ban abortion nationwide by criminalizing the mailing of mifepristone and medical equipment used for abortion care.
From: Restrictions on Reproductive Rights and Comstock Act Revival
- Major Abuse of Power Rule of Law
Punishing Sanctuary Jurisdictions: Federal Funding Cutoffs and Lawsuits Against 29 States
The Trump administration threatened and attempted to withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities and their entire states, expanding threats beyond individual cities to state-level punishment. The DOJ sued 29 states and Washington, DC for not cooperating with immigration enforcement. A federal judge blocked the funding cutoffs as unconstitutional, but the administration announced plans to deny funding to all states hosting sanctuary cities starting February 1, 2026, and Congress is considering legislation to condition health, education, and transportation funding on immigration cooperation.
From: Punishing Sanctuary Jurisdictions: Federal Funding Cutoffs and Lawsuits Against 29 States
- Serious Rights Violation Rule of Law
Weaponization of Security Clearances for Political Retaliation
The Trump administration systematically revoked security clearances from over 100 former officials, political opponents, and critics across multiple executive actions — targeting 51 former intelligence officials who signed the 2020 Hunter Biden laptop letter, revoking clearances from prosecutors who investigated Trump, stripping clearances from state officials who brought legal actions against Trump, and targeting the former CISA director and his entire company for contradicting Trump's election fraud claims.
From: Weaponization of Security Clearances for Political Retaliation
- Serious Rights Violation Extrajudicial Killing
Massive Escalation of US Airstrikes in Somalia with Zero Civilian Accountability
The Trump administration dramatically escalated US airstrikes in Somalia beginning in 2025, with AFRICOM conducting at least 43 strikes by mid-year — more than double the prior year's total. Independent monitors at Airwars have documented between 33 and 167 civilian deaths from US strikes in Somalia, while AFRICOM has assessed zero civilian casualties. AFRICOM stopped publishing casualty estimates in April-May 2025 and has never paid compensation for any civilian death in Somalia.
From: Massive Escalation of US Airstrikes in Somalia with Zero Civilian Accountability
- War Crime / Crime Against Humanity Federal Dismantlement
Systematic Dismantlement of USAID and Global Humanitarian Consequences
The Trump administration systematically dismantled USAID beginning January 2025, abolishing overseas positions, separating most employees, and transferring residual functions to the State Department. The Lancet projects 9.4 million additional deaths by 2030 as a result. 23 million children lost access to education and 95 million people lost access to basic healthcare.
From: Systematic Dismantlement of USAID and Global Humanitarian Consequences
- Serious Rights Violation Federal Dismantlement
Dismantlement of Whistleblower Protections and Government Oversight Infrastructure
The Trump administration systematically destroyed government oversight infrastructure by firing 17 inspectors general, removing the heads of the Office of Special Counsel and Office of Government Ethics, stripping job protections from thousands of federal workers, and creating conditions where whistleblower retaliation cases at the Department of Energy increased 9x year-over-year. Federal employees report being 'terrified' to report wrongdoing, speak up, or disagree with DOGE.
From: Dismantlement of Whistleblower Protections and Government Oversight Infrastructure
- Major Abuse of Power Federal Dismantlement
US Withdrawal from the World Health Organization — Dismantling Global Pandemic Preparedness
On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order initiating US withdrawal from the World Health Organization. The withdrawal became effective on January 22, 2026. The US had been the WHO's largest single funder, responsible for 22% of mandatory contributions. The loss of US funding forced the WHO to announce plans to cut roughly 2,300 jobs — a quarter of its workforce — by summer 2026. The withdrawal removes the US from the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System, disease outbreak tracking networks, and the foundational architecture of international pandemic preparedness.
From: US Withdrawal from the World Health Organization — Dismantling Global Pandemic Preparedness