This post was last updated Nov. 14 at 8:45 p.m.

Editor’s note: The following submission is an edited version of an open letter written by UC Riverside student Harry Stoltz. Please see the original letter to view a complete list of signatories.

We, the undersigned, are concerned students, faculty and alumni in California’s UC system. Our 10 campuses are home to 295,573 students, 25,000 faculty members and over 2 million alumni. We are committed to protecting our diverse community and are deeply concerned about the future of our country.

The state of California is uniquely positioned to act as a bulwark against the upcoming Donald Trump administration. We continue to be the world’s fifth largest economy, and our cultural impact is larger than most countries.

As such, we must use this opportunity to present an alternative to the Trump administration. Our next president has derided immigrants as “poisoning the blood of our country,” promotes misinformation about vaccines, and after refusing to concede the 2020 election, led what scholars characterize as an attempted insurrection. We have a federal system in the United States – individual states have broad autonomy, and we need to embolden our leaders to use the power granted to them by our Constitution. It is encouraging to see that Gov. Gavin Newsom has already called a special session in the California state legislature “to safeguard California values and fundamental rights in the face of an incoming Trump administration.” It is critical to show our support.

Erosion of democracy
Prior to the 2020 election, the Trump campaign promoted misinformation surrounding mail-in voting. “This is going to be a fraud like you’ve never seen,” Trump said in a Sept. 29 debate with then-candidate Joe Biden. On the night of the election, then-President Trump took to TV and claimed the election had been stolen from him. In fact, Trump has claimed fraud in every election for the last eight years: 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022 and now again in 2024.

Ahead of Jan. 6 2021, the date when Congress certified the electoral votes, Trump’s administration organized false slates of electors and sent them to seven state capitols in key swing states to create chaos. The president urged his own vice president, Mike Pence, to reject the real electors sent to congress and to violate the Electoral Count Act. When it became clear that Pence would not comply, Trump instigated 10,000 of his supporters to break into Capitol grounds and 800 to enter the building. The ensuing violence resulted in the deaths of six people and hundreds injured — including an officer who nearly had his eye gouged out by a rioter. Ultimately, the Jan. 6 attacks delayed the certification of the vote by multiple hours, and 147 Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate voted “no” on certification.

Instead of denouncing the rioters, Trump has embraced them. Last year, he recorded a rendition of the national anthem, “Justice for All,” with a group of rioters sentenced to prison time for their role in the insurrection. Trump has said he will pardon the rioters and has called it “a day of love.”

To put it bluntly, this is disqualifying behavior for a president. Based on what Trump has shown us in the past and his continued claims of fraud, how could we ever believe that he would leave willingly in 2028?

In stark contrast, California is a leader on elections and democracy. We have some of the most widespread mail-in voting in the country, as well as on-site voter registration. We are fortunate to have an executive who promotes these rights, rather than tramples on them with baseless claims. Moving forward, we urge Gov. Newsom to preserve these rights and to fight against any attempts from the federal government to undermine how California conducts its elections.

Mass deportations
Some of the most pernicious attacks by Trump have been directed at the millions of undocumented immigrants who live in the United States. It is estimated that over 1.85 million reside in California, and at least 600 are enrolled in the UC system. In fact, the state of California hosts one in five of the nation’s undocumented students. In 2015, Trump famously launched his campaign by calling Mexican immigrants “rapists” and “criminals.” Since then, Trump has continued this rhetoric and now plans to enact a wide-ranging plan for mass deportation.

This plan should not be taken lightly – at Trump rallies, supporters wave signs with the slogan “Mass Deportation Now!” His running mate, JD Vance, has suggested that a second Trump administration would remove 1 million people per year. Needless to say, this would devastate one of our most vulnerable communities – one that already faces rising hate crimes.

Gov.Newsom needs to leverage his authority as governor to make clear that California will not stand for these attacks. We already have some of the most prominent sanctuary cities in the nation, which protect undocumented persons from raids and arrests conducted by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Gov. Newsom needs to make clear that California would not comply with Trump’s plans to tear apart families and deport people who are responsible for generating $151 billion of our GDP, about 4% of the state’s total.

Attacks on science
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have lingering effects on the lives of Californians. The pandemic, which led to a recession in 2020, resulted in the deaths of over 100,000 Californians and burdened the US economy with 8% inflation. It was exacerbated by the Trump administration’s lies surrounding masking and vaccines. In an October 2020 town hall, Trump baselessly claimed that 85% of people wearing masks caught COVID, that same year suggested injecting bleach to fight the virus and now reportedly plans to appoint Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to his administration. Kennedy is a vaccine skeptic and has said that the administration would recommend removing fluoride from drinking water – even though its presence has led to decreased levels of tooth decay benefitting millions over decades.

Trump’s first administration proposed budget cuts to federal research spending – all four years in a row. The National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy and NASA all saw attacks by the administration. In his first term, Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Accords, continues to promote baseless claims that windmills cause cancer and calls climate change a “hoax.” This past year, Trump has vowed to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act – a law that is responsible for billions of dollars of spending to combat climate change.

California, in contrast, is a global leader on climate change and renewable technology. In the past couple years, our legislature has passed landmark legislation to combat climate change, and state law requires that electric vehicles make up 35% of new vehicles sold by 2026. We live on the forefront of climate change and face increasing forest fires year over year. This climate emergency impacts the lives of people across the state and decreased federal funding threatens to compound the issue.

California needs to continue its investments in science and education moving into a second Trump administration.

Conclusion
California is uniquely situated to combat the incoming Trump administration. We hope that this letter has sufficiently outlined some of the ways in which Californians will be affected. We believe that California needs to act as an alternative for the country. Trump’s dark and divisive actions as president, as candidate and as convicted felon need to be contrasted with forward-looking and empathetic leadership. Our great state has proven its courage before, and we must do it again.

Stoltz is a fourth-year student at UCR.