Lancaster County residents organize to push back during Trump’s second administration

Over 100 residents attended a Lancaster Stands Up meeting aiming to organize and push back against Donald Trump’s second administration. 

Hundreds of progressives from across Pennsylvania gathered in person and online on Monday to create a community looking to respond to a second Donald Trump administration.

The meetings were held by Pennsylvania Stands Up and its local chapters. Over 100 residents packed Lancaster Stands Up’s community meeting that was held at a local Mennonite church.

“We’re here tonight to really hold true and ground ourselves of what today is,” Taylor Enterline, a Lancaster Stands Up organizer, explained in an interview. 

“One being Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and the other being the inauguration of Donald Trump and the beginning of his presidency.”

Enterline, 25, started volunteering for Lancaster Stands Up during Trump’s first term almost 8 years ago when she was 17. 

Monday’s attendance shouldn’t come as a surprise because Lancaster Stands Up has been serving as a beacon in Lancaster’s progressive community since the beginning of Trump’s first term. 

The organization was able to rally more than 2,000 residents in response to Trump’s Muslim ban weeks into his term. It was one of the largest rallies in Lancaster City’s history. 

“We’re going to see a lot happen here in the next month and the next four years,” Enterline said. “As I said before, and what Martin Luther King and many have done before us when facing fascism and violence is banding together, organizing together within your community, and we were able to do that regardless of the weather.” 

Stopping Trump’s second-term agenda and finding ways to defeat Project 2025 were the main topics during Monday’s mass meeting. After listening to speakers, attendees were separated by their region and went into breakout sessions where they were encouraged to meet their neighbors, host meetings and run for local offices. 

“The importance of this meeting is showing people that there is an alternative to Trump’s agenda and talking about how we can come together to organize against that,” David Miller-Glick, a Lancaster Stands Up volunteer, said in an interview. 

Miller-Glick sees protecting marginalized groups as an important issue for the organization over the next four years.

“I think we would do a lot of organizing, protecting people who are homeless and also other marginalized groups. If there are ICE raids, we make sure people know their rights and protect LGBTQ youth and adults as well.”