New York, NY— President Trump’s memo to exclude undocumented immigrants from the 2020 Census count for redistricting purposes is another outrageous, racist, and unconstitutional attempt to disempower and destroy our communities.

Completely failing to respond to the pandemic with many thousands of lives lost and facing tough election odds, Trump is yet again seeking to distract us from his shortcomings with blatant xenophobia and racism. There is no constitutional basis for this memo, as it is patently unconstitutional not to count everyone in the census. The Constitution makes no exceptions for immigration status. A person is a person and everyone deserves to be counted, no matter their citizenship. Further, the Supreme Court correctly struck down the Trump administration's previous attempt to put a citizenship question on the 2020 Census as a blatantly partisan gambit. But we know Trump has no respect for the Constitution or legal precedent and even less respect for people of color. 

Our work to ensure full and equitable participation is more important now than ever. Trump’s unlawful memo would reduce the count in areas where immigrant populations have traditionally settled — primarily Democrat-run cities — and undermine their political power relative to more rural, Republican-run areas. 

Trump and his cronies have shown that they will pursue any opportunity to silence and suppress our communities. Without a proper count, our communities will have fewer of the resources they need to survive and thrive. This is all the more galling during a pandemic when cities are already on the brink. The current situation with COVID-19 highlights the importance of getting a complete and accurate count this year because that data informs emergency responses and the building of hospitals, infrastructure, and grocery stores. 

It’s clear he wants to silence and erase our communities and will not stop until he does so, which is why we must defeat him in November. 

We will not disappear. The time is now to fill out the census, to make sure our voices are heard and our communities are counted.

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