New York, NY - Today, Federal Judge Jesse Furman ruled against the Trump administration’s request to dismiss New York v. Department of Commerce, and will allow the lawsuit to move forward. The lawsuit argues that adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census violates the Constitution, which requires an actual count of every person, violates the Administrative Procedure Act because it is beyond the Department’s statutory authority and is arbitrary and capricious, and reverses seven decades of precedent without a factual basis.

Steven Choi, Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition, issued the following statement:

“New York’s 4.4 million immigrants will be counted regardless of Trump’s attempts to keep us down. Today was a big victory for all New Yorkers and we’re not going to lose a dime or our voices to D.C.”

Background



On April 3rd, the New York Attorney General’s office filed a lawsuit– New York v. Deparment of Commerce– in the Southern District of New York to stop the Commerce Department from adding the citizenship question to the 2020 Census. Currently 18 states, the District of Columbia, several cities, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors have joined the New York Attorney General’s lawsuit. On May 25, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. Judge Furman on July 3rd stated it was “unlikely he would dismiss the case in its entirety” and granted the AG’s office request for additional documents beyond letters already released.



The New York Immigration Coalition, together with over eighty partners, has formed New York Counts 2020, a coalition to counter the expected impact of the citizenship question on the 2020 census. The addition of 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.



New York Counts 2020 includes:



Academy of Medical and Public Health Services

ACCESS WNY

ADL and 67th Precinct Clergy Council

African Services Committee

American Immigration Lawyers Association - New York Chapter

Arab American Association of New York

Asian American Federation

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF)

Association for Better New York

Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD)

Bangladeshi American Community Development and Youth Services (BACDYS)

Bronx Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc

Brooklyn Public Library

Catholic Charities, Archdiocese of New York

Catholic Migration Services

Center for Law and Social Justice, Medgar Evers College

Charles B. Wang Community Health Center

CHHAYA CDC

Chinese-American Planning Council

Chinese Progressive Association

Christopher Rose Community Empowerment Campaign

Cidadão Global

Citizens' Committee for Children of New York

Citizens Union Foundation

Common Cause NY

Community Legal Advocates of N

Community Voices Heard

Cooper Square Committee N-NORC

Church Women United in New York State

Desis Rising Up and Moving

Digital Equity Laboratory, The New School

EducatedVoter.net

Emerald Island Immigration Center

Engage New York

Fiscal Policy Institute

Forestdale

FPWA

Garifuna Coalition USA, Inc.

Health and Welfare Council of Long Island

Human Services Council

Indivisible Nation BK

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Indo-Caribbean Alliance, Inc.

Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing

Japanese American Social Services, Inc.

Jewish Community Relations Council

Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York

LatinoJustice PRLDEF

Literacy Assistance Center

LiUNA Local 78

Masa

MinKwon Center for Community Action

Mixteca Organization, Inc.

Movement for Justice in El Barrio

NAACP-New York Branch

NALEO Educational Fund

New America

New York Alumnae Chapter, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

New York City Employment and Training Coalition

New York Housing Conference

New York Immigration Coalition

New York Legal Assistance Group

New York State Council on Children and Families

NMIC

Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson

OCA-NY

Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow

Planned Parenthood of New York City

Pratt Center for Community Development

Russian Speaking Community Council of Manhattan and the Bronx, Inc.

SEIU32BJ

Sisters of St. Joseph of Rochester

Sunnyside Community Services

Tiny Panther Consulting

Treatment Action Group

Queens College, CUNY/Social Explorer

Queens Library

UJA-Federation of New York

United Neighborhood Houses

Vision Urbana, Inc.

Volunteer Lawyers Project of Onondaga County

Wayne Action for Racial Justice

Worker’s Center of Central New York

YMCA of Greater New York

Young Invincibles

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