As Oral Arguments Begin, Immigrant Advocates Urge SCOTUS to Reject Trump’s Unconstitutional Memo Excluding Undocumented Individuals from 2020 Census

New York, NY-Today, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) heard oral arguments regarding President Trump’s memo excluding undocumented individuals from the 2020 Census count for the purposes of congressional apportionment. In July, the New York Immigration Coalition, the ACLU, New York Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Texas, ACLU of Southern California, and Arnold & Porter brought a lawsuit, New York Immigration Coalition V. Trump, which challenged President Trump’s memo. Before today’s hearing, three lower federal courts ruled the memo violated the U.S. Constitution. 

In response to the hearing, Murad Awawdeh and Rovika Rajkishun, interim Co-Executive Directors of the New York Immigration Coalition, issued the following statement.

“Immigrants are persons—no matter what Trump or his cronies say. After suffering repeated defeats in lower federal courts, the Trump administration has brought its most brazen attempt to erase immigrant communities' personhood to the highest court in the land. Unfortunately for Trump, the Constitution offers little room for argument—everyone counts in the Census, which means all of us. We will not be denied our humanity and will continue to fight this White House’s repeated efforts to suppress the 2020 Census count and rob immigrant-rich states like ours of our fair share of federal funding and representation. Now, it’s up to the Supreme Court to affirm our personhood, uphold the Constitution, and reject this last-minute attempt to corrupt the 2020 Census and undermine our democracy.”