New York, NY—According to people close to the process, on Saturday evening, President Trump is expected to announce Judge Amy Coney Barrett as his choice to replace US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who passed away one week ago. Appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago by President Trump in 2017, Judge Barrett has demonstrated a commitment to Trump’s extremist agenda, including voting to uphold Trump’s shameful anti-immigrant public charge rule.
In response to President Trump’s nomination of Judge Barrett, Murad Awawdeh and Rovika Rajkishun, Interim Co-Executive Directors of the New York Immigration Coalition, issued the following statement.
“In June, the Supreme Court narrowly upheld, in a 5-4 vote, the wildly popular DACA program that shields immigrant youth from deportation and allows them to go to school and support their families. Last year, the Court held the same close vote that prevented Trump from undermining an accurate Census count by adding a citizenship question to the form. The stakes for immigrant communities have never been higher. Suppose Trump and Republicans successfully push through a Supreme Court confirmation without allowing voters to have a say. In that case, there will be no check on the legally dubious anti-immigrant extremism of this administration. A shadow of uncertainty will, once again, descend on Dreamers, and the rights of immigrant communities will be under siege for a generation. We demand that the Senate not vote on any nominee until after the November elections. The NYIC will deploy every tool at our disposal to stop the Trump administration from rigging our nation's highest court to their advantage. And, in November, we will make our voices count, because our lives and communities depend on it.”