ACLU Director Dale Ho said that the organization will sue Trump over his illegal memo directed that undocumented immigrants not be counted in the Census.
Trump illegal memo directed that undocumented immigrants not be counted in the Census:
For the purpose of the reapportionment of Representatives following the 2020 census, it is the policy of the United States to exclude from the apportionment base aliens who are not in a lawful immigration status under the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.), to the maximum extent feasible and consistent with the discretion delegated to the executive branch. Excluding these illegal aliens from the apportionment base is more consonant with the principles of representative democracy underpinning our system of Government.
Affording congressional representation, and therefore formal political influence, to States on account of the presence within their borders of aliens who have not followed the steps to secure a lawful immigration status under our laws undermines those principles. Many of these aliens entered the country illegally in the first place. Increasing congressional representation based on the presence of aliens who are not in a lawful immigration status would also create perverse incentives encouraging violations of Federal law.
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
Ho told Trump that he will see him in court:
Immediate reaction from @ACLU’s @Dale_E_Ho, the lawyer who led the fight against the citizenship Q: “We’ll see him in court, and win, again.†#2020Census
— Nick Brown (@NickPBrown) July 21, 2020
Trump’s memo is an election year stunt that is absurdly unconstitutional:
It is flatly unconstitutional not to count everyone in the census. Under Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment calls for counting the whole number of persons in each state. No exceptions for immigration status, no secret language here. The Constitution means what it says.
— Texas Progressive Action Network (@TX_PAN) July 21, 2020
Dale Ho is correct. The memo has no chance of surviving in court. Trump will be sued immediately and blocked from implementing it, and he will lose.
Trump is taking his racism to new highs, and the memo is another bit of crackpot racist pandering that will not stand up in court.
For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.
Follow Jason Easley on Facebook
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association