Trump picks Indian American Harmeet Dhillon as civil rights warrior

US president-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday announced the nomination of Indian American lawyer Harmeet K Dhillon as assistant attorney general for civil rights at the department of justice (DOJ).

Dhillon, a staunch Trump supporter, becomes the fourth person of Indian-origin to be nominated in the newly elected president’s cabinet.

“Throughout her career, Harmeet has stood up consistently to protect our cherished Civil Liberties, including taking on Big Tech for censoring our Free Speech, representing Christians who were prevented from praying together during COVID, and suing corporations who use woke policies to discriminate against their workers,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

“Harmeet is one of the top Election lawyers in the Country, fighting to ensure that all, and ONLY, legal votes are counted. She is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of Virginia Law School, and clerked in the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. Harmeet is a respected member of the Sikh religious community. In her new role at the DOJ, Harmeet will be a tireless defender of our Constitutional Rights, and will enforce our Civil Rights and Election Laws FAIRLY and FIRMLY,” the president-elect added.

Since his election win in November, Trump has steadily announced the names of candidates loyal to him who will be a part for the administration in his second term.

Trump had earlier appointed Kolkata-born Jayanta ‘Jay’ Bhattacharya as director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He also nominated staunch loyalist Kashyap ‘Kash’ Patel to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Vivek Ramaswamy to co-lead the planned Department of Government Efficiency along with Tesla boss Elon Musk.

Who is Harmeet K Dhillon?

Dhillon was born in Chandigarh, but moved to the US with her parents during her childhood.

In 2016, she made history as the first Indian American to take the stage at the GOP Convention in Cleveland.

Considered a respected member of the Silk community, Dhillon is a graduate of Dartmouth College and earned her law degree from the University of Virginia Law School.

Last November, Dhillon had accused India of sending “death squads to target North America Sikhs”.

Referring to a Financial Times report on an alleged assassination plot targeting pro-Khalistan separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, she tweeted: “Like I said, India has sent death squads to target North American Sikhs outspoken on civil and human rights conditions in Punjab, both to Canada and now the US. Will our government do anything about it, or just pander endlessly over artificial DEI nonsense? Lives are at risk!”

Moreover, during the 2020-21 police crackdown on protesting farmers at the Singhu and Ghazipur borders in the Delhi-National Capital Region, Dhillon had called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “hear them, meet with them and compromise.”