LOS ANGELES – Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) issued the following statement in response to today’s ruling by a federal court in California blocking the Trump administration’s attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census:
“Today, a second federal judge has held that the Trump administration’s cynical last-minute addition of a citizenship question to Census 2020 cannot pass legal muster. Judge Richard Seeborg today held that the addition of the citizenship question both violates the Administrative Procedures Act and runs afoul of the Census clause in the U.S. Constitution. And the story is not yet complete. Claims of intentional racial discrimination and of a conspiracy in the Trump administration to discriminate against racial minorities, remain to be resolved in the Maryland cases, including one brought by MALDEF and co-counsel. These claims and the constitutional claim ruled upon by Judge Seeborg are critical because they present impediments to the citizenship question that are not in the case set to be reviewed by the Supreme Court.
“One thing that is quite clearly established after these two rulings is that Wilbur Ross lied to Congress and the American people about the reason he was adding the citizenship question to the Census. These lies render him completely unfit to serve as Secretary of Commerce. He should resign or be removed forthwith.”