Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans Challenges Trump’s Order Excluding Undocumented Immigrants from Census Apportionment Calculations

PRESS STATEMENT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

July 23, 2020  

MEDIA CONTACT: Contact: Ramla Sahid, 619-265-6611, ramla@panasd.org

On Thursday, Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA) proudly joined Common Cause, the cities of Atlanta, Georgia, and Paterson, New Jersey, and individual voters in a suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging President Trump’s July 21 memo ordering the Department of Commerce to exclude undocumented immigrants from the apportionment of seats in Congress. This action is unprecedented and violates both the U.S. Constitution and federal statutes.  

The lawsuit seeks a declaratory judgment and injunctive relief against the President, as well as the Department of Commerce, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, and the Clerk of the House of Representatives. The four-count complaint alleges violations of several different Constitutional protections and federal statutory requirements related to the census count and the apportionment of congressional districts. The complaint makes clear that the President’s memorandum “is the culmination of a years-long effort to transfer political power en masse from voters of color . . . to ‘Republicans and non-Hispanic whites.’” 

“If entire communities are left out of the Census count, this will have direct and negative consequences on the San Diego region, and especially for refugee and immigrant communities that rely on federal programs to facilitate successful resettlement and long-term economic self-sufficiency,” said Ramla Sahid, PANA’s Executive Director. “The President’s action is a blatantly unconstitutional attempt to yet again intimidate and exclude refugee and immigrant communities from the fabric of our democracy.”

Plaintiffs are represented by Emmet J. Bondurant of Bondurant Mixson & Elmore LLP; Gregory L. Diskant, Daniel S. Ruzumna, Aron Fischer, and Jonah M. Knobler of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP; and Michael B. Kimberly of McDermott Will & Emery. 

To read the complaint, click here. 

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Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA) is a research, community organizing, and public policy hub dedicated to advancing the full economic, social, and civic inclusion of refugees and Muslims in the region.