SALT LAKE CITY — The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah is reporting a 400-percent increase in membership in the past year.
In a report from its annual membership meeting, the civil liberties legal group said it went from about 1,500 members to 7,400 since November 2016.
“In the last year, more new members joined the ACLU in Utah than our previous total membership—and the interest keeps growing. We appreciate this continued support and passion for the work we do to preserve the individual rights and liberties for all Utahns,” said Brittney Nystrom, the ACLU of Utah’s Executive Director.
ACLU chapters across the nation have seen spikes in membership and donations since President Donald Trump’s election. Nationally, the ACLU has been involved in a number of legal challenges to some of the president’s executive orders. The ACLU of Utah sued the administration in April for documents related to one of the travel bans.
Locally, the ACLU told its members that it has been active in a number of cases and political issues including criminal justice reform, right to counsel and issues on Utah’s Capitol Hill.
