Immigrant Advocates Rally at Close of Closely-Watched Census Trial

From the New York Immigration Coalition

NEW YORK, NY – Tuesday, November 27th, Judge Jesse Furman in the Southern District of New York will hear closing arguments in the lawsuit New York State et al. v the Department of Commerce. The suit has been consolidated with New York Immigration Coalition v. the Department of Commerce, which argues that the Trump administration’s attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census is a racially motivated form of discrimination. The statewide coalition New York Counts 2020 has been monitoring the entire trial.

Members of New York Counts 2020, immigrant advocates, and community organizations, will hold a press conference immediately following closing arguments.

WHEN: TUESDAY, November 27th 2018 immediately following closing arguments (approx. 12:30PM).

WHERE: Foley Square, directly across from 40 Centre Street. Watch the press conference on the NYIC’s facebook livestream here.

WHO: New York Counts 2020, the New York Immigration Coalition, Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation, Sunnyside Community Services, Christopher Rose Community Empowerment Campaign, 32BJ SEIU, Chhaya CDC, Association for a Better New York, immigrant and community advocates.

WHAT: Immigrant and community advocates hold press conference following closing arguments in census lawsuit against the citizenship question.

New York Counts 2020 members are stakeholders representing a wide array of issues and industries, including immigrant rights, labor, education, health, government, technology, and business.

Background

The New York Immigration Coalition, together with over ninety partners, has formed New York Counts 2020, a coalition to maximize participation in the census and therefore counter the expected impact of the citizenship question if added to the 2020 census. If included, a citizenship question will stoke unnecessary fear in immigrant communities and could result in a significant undercount, particularly already under-counted racial and ethnic minority groups. With immigrants constituting nearly 1 out of 4 New Yorkers, an undercount in the 2020 Census will have catastrophic consequences – costing all New Yorkers political power and billions of dollars in federal funding for key services.

The trial opened in the lawsuit New York et al. v the Department of Commerce on November 5th, 2018. Members of the New York Immigration Coalition submitted written testimony.