MALDEF Statement on New Mexico’s Intention to Appeal Ruling in Landmark Education Case

LOS ANGELES — The New Mexico Public Education Department has publicly stated that it intends to appeal a court ruling that the state has failed to live up to its constitutional obligation to provide a sufficient education to all students and must implement a remedial plan by next April. Please attribute the following statement to Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund):

MALDEF STATEMENT ON TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S ROLLBACK OF FEDERAL POLICY GUIDANCE ON CAMPUS DIVERSITY

LOS ANGELES  – The federal government announced today that it has rescinded policy guidance issued by the Obama administration to foster diversity in elementary and secondary schools and on college campuses. Please attribute the following statement to Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund):

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL OF MALDEF

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL OF MALDEF

As Donald Trump passed 500 days in the White House earlier in June, the parameters of the administration’s approach to critical issues of concern to the Latino community have become even clearer. After 500 days, Trump has failed to nominate a single Latino to a federal court of appeals vacancy. After 500 days, Trump has continued regularly to demonize, with false facts and vile rhetoric, all immigrants, particularly Latino immigrants. After 500 days, Trump has embarked on a federal policy of violently separating minor children from their refuge-seeking parents in the name of “zero tolerance.” After 500 days, Trump seeks to expand family detention, an inhumane abomination, and continues to demand that United States taxpayers pay for an ineffective and unnecessary wall at the southern border. After 500 days, Trump still champions a discriminatory Muslim ban, securing a bare-majority Supreme Court ruling allowing the continued influence of bigotry in immigration policy, which has historically harmed Latinos more than anyone else. After 500 days, the Trump administration has proven to be the most anti-Latino presidential administration in our history.