California and the Bay Area Took on Trump Before. They’re Ready to Do It Again

Elected officials and legal teams across California are mobilizing this week after former President Donald Trump won back the White House on Tuesday.

Near-constant battles with the Golden State, which sued him on average about every 12 days, marked Trump’s first administration, on a wide range of issues including immigration and environmental protection. In the second Trump administration, the state is poised to play a leading role in opposition.

In the Bay Area, immigrant groups, the LGBTQ community and others are anxious about their future under Trump, whose campaign rhetoric often targeted them specifically.

At a press conference at San Francisco’s Crissy Field on Thursday, standing next to a “Progress will prevail” sign, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said he’s spent months talking with his department and attorneys general across the country in preparation of a potential second Trump term.

“We have thought through all of the possibilities of the attacks on our values, our people, our state, and we expect certain litigation to come or certain actions to come from the federal government and certain litigation that we will take in response,” Bonta said. “There’s a lot of different scenarios on a lot of different topics, from immigration to the environment to civil rights to gun safety … the list goes on, but we are ready.”

During Trump’s first term, Bonta’s predecessor Xavier Becerra brought over 100 lawsuits against his administration — far more than any other state.

Many were successful. Becerra prevented Trump from repealing an Obama-era protection against deportation for immigrants covered by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy and upheld California’s right to set its own vehicle emissions standards.

The strategy will be the same this time around, Bonta said.

“We believe he’ll be taking unlawful actions and that we will find appropriate relief and remedies in court where we always have,” he said.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is preparing to bolster that legal effort against what he called an incoming “attack” on the state’s freedoms. On Thursday, Newsom called a special legislative session meant to gird the state for an incoming federal administration that has clashed with California on many fronts.

“California has faced this challenge before, and we know how to respond,” Newsom said in a statement. “We are prepared to fight in the courts, and we will do everything necessary to ensure Californians have the support and resources they need to thrive.”

Among the priorities for the special session, which would begin in early December, will be legislation to provide additional funding for the state’s Department of Justice and other agencies to be ready to sue the Trump administration as well as defend against potential incoming federal lawsuits.

On the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly called for mass, militarized deportation of immigrants who lack legal status. California — a sanctuary state — is home to millions of immigrants, and local advocates and lawyers are gearing up for a turbulent next four years.

Gabriel Medina, executive director of La Raza Community Resource Center in San Francisco, said that in the days since the election, his team has already seen a drop-off in the number of people coming in for basic services.

“The fear is disconnecting our folks from just being able to receive basic services, whether it’s case management, whether it’s food, whether it’s rental assistance,” Medina said. “That’s a huge concern.”

San Francisco is a sanctuary city within a sanctuary state, which Medina said will help protect the city’s immigrant community under Trump.

“We know that both our city agencies and city attorneys will do everything they can to help defend everyone that lives here,” he said.

Still, Trump’s promise of mass deportations has attorneys worried about their clients.

“He can really do a lot of harm to a lot of the families that we help here, whether it’s blocking benefits with work permits, blocking benefits with asylum, with temporary protected status eligibility categories,” said Gilberto Nicolas Gonzalez, one of the lawyers on staff at La Raza.

Over the next couple of months, Gonzalez said, his team is preparing strategies to deal with an increase in detainments and court hearings.

“We’re really just trying to plan ahead,” he said. “But as of right now, we’re really uncertain and a lot of our clients are kind of in fear and in shambles right now.”

Bay Area LGBTQ advocates are also voicing their anxiety about the future under Trump.

In the final weeks of his campaign, Trump narrowed his attacks on transgender people, often using demeaning and offensive language to portray a threat to national identity.

“We will get … transgender insanity the hell out of our schools, and we will keep men out of women’s sports,” Trump said at an inflammatory Madison Square Garden rally at the end of October.

He’s also promised to withhold Medicare and Medicaid funding from hospitals that provide gender transition treatment to minors.

Advocates said that even in Democratic bulwarks, people need to be ready for the fallout from a Trump presidency that aims to roll back transgender rights.

“I think a lot of people are thinking, ‘I’m in California, I’m safe.’ And besides the fact that that neglects our trans siblings living all across the United States, we are going to see real effects here outside of policy,” said Chase Overholt, director of development at Positive Images, a Sonoma County-based LGBTQ community center.

Overholt said he’s worried that Trump’s presidency will lead to a rise in anti-trans and homophobic rhetoric and action. When Trump was first elected in 2016, Overholt said many businesses that displayed pride flags in downtown Santa Rosa were vandalized.

To prepare for Trump’s second term, Overholt said his team is upping on-site security.

“We’re hardening our center at Positive Images to make sure that when communities are there, they can trust that they’re in a safe space physically,” he said.

Overholt encouraged folks who are worried about access to health care and other resources to prepare now.

“Make sure that your legal documents are in order. If you are a trans person who is interested in a legal name change or a gender indicator change, you should file that paperwork tomorrow,” he said.

Positive Images is teaming up with other local organizations like the NAACP, Latino Service Providers and legal aid groups in order to provide resources to its residents and training to “repair some of the trauma or harm that’s been done and protect against it.”

“It’s going to be difficult,” Overholt said. “But there is still queer joy to be had. There is still Black joy to be had. And we need to center that so that we can, frankly, stay alive.”

KQED’s Gilare Zada and Brian Krans contributed to this report.