TEXAS DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION ON SB 4

MALDEF

May 4, 2017

San Antonio, TX - MALDEF is providing the following data on the potential impact of SB 4 on Texas residents. The information is based on the U.S. Census American Community Survey.

Current population data indicate that 44 percent of the total Texas population is Latino, Asian American, or Arab American; even more striking is that nearly 54 percent of Texans under the age of 18 fall within one of these three groups. These are the population groups who would be subject to widespread police profiling and harassment as a result of SB 4. Add in African Americans, an additional 11.5 percent of the Texas population, who already face widespread racial profiling that could be exacerbated by the permission to profile extended in SB 4, and we are talking about a majority of all Texans and nearly two-thirds of Texas minors.

MALDEF urges Governor Greg Abbott to reject this invitation to discriminate against over half his state’s population and to sow broad mistrust of law enforcement among two-thirds of the state’s future workforce.

Founded in 1968, MALDEF is the nation's leading Latino legal civil rights organization. Often described as the "Latino Legal Voice for Civil Rights in America" MALDEF promotes social change through advocacy, communications, community education, and litigation in the areas of education, employment, immigrant rights, and political access. For more information on MALDEF, please visit: www.maldef.org.