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Human Rights Watch has released its annual report, and reading the chapter about the U.S. is like reading a horror novel.
Donald Trump’s second term as president has lasted a little more than a year, so how are things actually going in the U.S.?
The answer is, of course, a matter of perspective and focus, but according to the New York-based human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW), things are looking grim for the future of the United States as a democracy.
In its annual World Report, in which HRW examines human rights around the globe, the chapter on the U.S. reads as if it were taken from a horror story.
“A decided shift toward authoritarianism”
In the chapter on the U.S., HRW concludes that the country has taken “significant steps backward” on issues such as health, the environment, criminal justice, immigration, and freedom of speech.
HRW highlights the first day of Trump’s second term, when the president ordered the termination of all federal programs for diversity, equity, and inclusion—an order HRW describes as “the first of a series of actions that eroded initiatives and institutions designed to combat racial and other discrimination.”
The chapter on the U.S. is divided into sections focusing on “Structural Racism and Other Discrimination,” “Democracy and the Right to Vote,” and “Immigrants and Asylum Seekers,” among others.
But regardless of the section, the picture is the same:
Even though some states took positive steps, the Trump administration is pushing the United States toward what HRW calls a “decided shift toward authoritarianism.”
On watchlist
In March 2025, TIME reported that the United States had been added to the CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist.
The watchlist is a research tool used to track the status of freedoms and threats to civil liberties.
“The Trump administration seems hellbent on dismantling the system of checks and balances that are the pillars of a democratic society,” said Mandeep Tiwana, interim co-secretary general of CIVICUS, in a press release at the time.
Sources: Human Rights Watch (HRW), TIME
