Washington, D.C. -Today, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, Chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, issued the following statement after a federal court struck down President Donald Trump’s memorandum attempting to ban undocumented immigrants from the 2020 Census count:
“I am pleased that a federal court has confirmed what four former Census Directors testified before the Oversight Committee this summer: President Trump violated the law when he directed the Secretary of Commerce to exclude undocumented immigrants from the census count. I agree with the court that the ‘the President exceeded the authority granted to him by Congress by statute’ and that his illegal order caused ‘widespread confusion’ and a ‘chilling effect on census participation’ that risks grave harm to the census. Now that the court has ruled, Republicans must finally agree to extend the statutory deadlines and let the Census Bureau do its job of conducting a complete and accurate count of every person in the United States."
On July 29, 2020, the Oversight Committee held an emergency hearing on the Trump Administration’s latest attempt to ban undocumented immigrants from the 2020 Census count for apportionment purposes.
At that hearing, four former Census Directors testified that the President’s memo was unconstitutional and illegal. In addition, current Census Director Steven Dillingham testified that neither he nor any other Census Bureau employee was consulted on the memo in advance, and he refused to vouch for its constitutionality.
