Census

LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Department of Justice today sent a letter to the U.S. Supreme Court asking the justices to rule on the Equal Protection claim currently before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth District and a district court in Maryland.

LOS ANGELES – A federal judge in Maryland will determine whether newly discovered evidence indicates unconstitutional discriminatory intent was behind the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 Census after an appellate court granted a request to remand the case to the district court today.

LOS ANGELES – A federal court in Maryland today issued its opinion explaining its previously-issued response to a request by MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) to reconsider whether the Trump administration conspired with others to intentionally discriminate against Latinos and non-citizens when it added a citizenship question to the 2020 Census.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) issued the statements below in response to today’s ruling by U.S. District Judge George J. Hazel granting a plaintiffs’ motion to reconsider whether the Trump administration conspired with others to intentionally discriminate against Latinos and non-citizens when it added a citizenship question to the 2020 Census.

GREENBELT, Md – Newly discovered evidence contradicts the Trump administration’s claims that it added a citizenship question to the 2020 Census simply to enforce the federal Voting Rights Act, and confirms that the purpose was to deprive Latinos of constitutionally protected political representation.

WASHINGTON, D.C.– A federal court should reconsider whether the Trump administration sought to intentionally discriminate against Latinos and immigrants of color when it added a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, according to court documents filed today by civil rights groups.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) will present oral argument on Friday in favor of dismissing a federal lawsuit filed by the State of Alabama.  The suit seeks to require the Census Bureau to exclude undocumented immigrants from the 2020 Census data used for reapportionment.  MALDEF will argue in favor of a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on the basis that Alabama lacks standing to sue the Department of Commerce for the remedy it seeks.

WASHINGTON D.C. – Civil rights groups filed a notice of cross-appeal today in their lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 Census.  The filing follows an appeal by the Trump administration of the ruling against the citizenship question.

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:

Greenbelt, MD – A federal trial begins today in a lawsuit alleging that Trump administration officials and others intentionally conspired to deprive racial minorities of their constitutional rights by adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census.

Greenbelt, MD – A federal trial will begin Tuesday in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 Census.