From the New York Immigration Coalition

Yesterday, Election Data Services released its 2018 Appointment Study, finding that New York could lose two congressional seats based on projected Census data in 2020. According to the study, “all the projection methods indicate New York will lose two congressional districts in 2020”, marginally missing to keep the second seat by as close as 19,648 people. New York state currently holds 27 congressional seats.

New York Counts 2020 is a coalition of stakeholders representing a wide array of issues and industries, including immigrant rights, labor, education, health, government, technology, and business. The coalition aims to maximize participation in the Census and ensure a fair and accurate count in 2020, by asking the state to commit $40million in Census funding to prevent an undercount.

“The proposed citizenship question is clearly designed to rig the Census by ultimately depriving immigrant-rich states – like New York – of their political power. This is a serious threat to our democracy; Governor Cuomo and the State Legislature must commit $40 million in Census funding to prevent an undercount. We cannot afford to lose our voices in Washington D.C.,” said Steven Choi, Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition (Facilitator of New York Counts 2020).

“It is no surprise that the way this administration is handling the upcoming decennial Census has placed New York State at risk of losing two congressional seats. This administration does little to hide its intention to make all Latino immigrants vanish, and to dilute the Latino voting power. LatinoJustice PRLDEF is committed to ensuring Latinx’s in New York and elsewhere are not set back decades by this administration’s anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies. It is imperative that we all participate in the 2020 Census, and get our friends, family and neighbors counted too,” said Jorge Vasquez, Associate Counsel at LatinoJustice PRLDEF & Co-Chair, Advocacy Committee of NY Counts 2020.

“The 2020 census question is yet another example of Trump administration reforms, steeped in white supremacist values, that are meant to divide us and harm communities of color. New York, one of the largest and most diverse communities in the world, standing to lose two congressional seats exemplifies the disastrous impact this census question could have. It threatens to disenfranchise and deprive New Yorkers of fair representation and the resources they rely on,” said Hector Figueroa, president of 32BJ SEIU and co-chair of New York Counts 2020 Advocacy Committee. SEIU32BJ is the largest property service union in the country which represents thousands of immigrants from around the world. “We won’t have it and will continue to fight for this dangerous question to not be allowed on our 2020 Census.”

See full article here.