FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

President Trump Backs Down From Adding 2020 Census Citizenship Question

Asian Americans Advancing Justice will continue to fight for an accurate count

July 11, 2019 — Washington, D.C. — President Donald Trump held a press conference to announce he has ended his political wrangling in court and will not seek further legal action to include the citizenship question on the 2020 Census form. While this is a clear win in the fight to count all persons in the U.S., we will remain vigilant against any additional efforts by the administration to attack our immigrant community.

Asian Americans Advancing Justice, an affiliation of five civil rights organizations, responds to President Trump’s press conference with the following statement:

“The 2020 Census is finally free to pursue its true purpose – a fair and accurate count of all persons in the United States. We view this as a clear win for everyone — regardless of party or status — who believes in upholding the U.S. Constitution.”

“This announcement today puts an end to one chapter after more than a year of lies and rhetoric from this administration, whose purpose was to stoke fear and reduce participation within our immigrant communities.”

“However, in light of the president’s executive action, we know that the administration will continue to attack and tear immigrant families apart. Among other things, Asian Americans Advancing Justice is prepared to push back and fight against any new attacks on undocumented immigrants, of which 1.7 million are Asian Americans. Our communities will not be bullied or erased from the 2020 Census.”

“Defeating the citizenship question on the 2020 Census means that our communities can and will be visible in this census. Advancing Justice is committed to getting our community to participate and getting a fair and accurate count of the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.”

Media Contacts:
Michelle Boykins, Advancing Justice | AAJC, 202-296-2300 x0144, mboykins@advancingjustice-aajc.org
Milan Chang, Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus, (415) 848-7754, milanc@advancingjustice-alc.org
James Woo, Advancing Justice – Atlanta, 404-585-8446, jwoo@advancingjustice-atlanta.org
Brandon Lee, Advancing Justice – Chicago, 773-271-0899 x200, blee@advancingjustice-chicago.org
Alison Vu, Advancing Justice – Los Angeles, (213) 241-0283, avu@advancingjustice-la.org

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Asian Americans Advancing Justice is a national affiliation of five leading organizations advocating for the civil and human rights of Asian Americans and other underserved communities to promote a fair and equitable society for all. The affiliation’s members are: Advancing Justice | AAJC (Washington, DC), Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus (San Francisco), Advancing Justice – Los Angeles, Advancing Justice – Atlanta, and Advancing Justice | Chicago.

Sophia Tareen and Colleen Long of the Associated Press covered the community response to the Trump Administration’s plan to ramp up deportations.

The Trump administration is moving forward with a nationwide immigration enforcement operation targeting migrant families, despite loud opposition from Democrats and questions over whether it’s the best use of resources given the crisis at the border.

The operation could happen as soon as this weekend after being postponed by President Donald Trump late last month. It would pursue people with final deportation orders, including families whose immigration cases were fast-tracked by judges in 10 major cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Miami.

The plan has sparked outrage and concern among immigrant-rights advocates and lawmakers.

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Some activists said they were gearing up for operations to start Sunday and planned to protest. Organizers estimated a rally planned for Saturday in Chicago would draw around 10,000 people.

“We will not be swayed by fear and fiat,” said Justin Valas with Asian Americans Advancing Justice in Chicago.

Read the full story:

• Fox 32 News (Chicago)
• US News & World Report
• Baltimore Sun
• Oakland Press
• Colorado Politics

Advancing Justice | Chicago’s Executive Director Andy Kang appeared on CLTV’s Politics Tonight with Paul Lisnek to talk about the Trump Administration’s efforts to add a “citizenship question” to the 2020 Census, the current legal cases, and how such a question would affect Census participation among immigrant communities.

U.S. Supreme Court to Take Up DACA Case

Unnecessary Decision Threatens Safety and Livelihood of Over 700,000 Recipients

June 28, 2019—Washington, D.C.—The U.S. Supreme Court agreed today to hear three of the Trump Administration’s appeals of decisions that block the Administration from terminating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). Currently, the federal government is under court order to accept and process renewal applications, but it is not accepting new applications.

Asian Americans Advancing Justice, an affiliation of five civil rights organizations, responds with the following statement:

“In light of the Supreme Court’s announcement, we encourage DACA recipients to continue renewing their applications and we vow to continue fighting for a broad and diverse undocumented community.

As part of its white supremacist agenda, this administration has made terminating the DACA program a top priority since they came into office. The movement to preserve immigration programs such as DACA, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) has been a strong testament to the resilience of immigrant communities whose lives are jeopardized by this administration’s xenophobic policies.

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are committed to winning a permanent solution for all DACA recipients and the rest of the 11 million undocumented immigrants, including members of our communities.”

Media Contacts:
Mary Tablante 202-296-2300 x 0114 mtablante@advancingjustice-aajc.org
Milan Chang 415-848-7754 milanc@advancingjustice-alc.org
James Woo 404-585-8446 jwoo@advancingjustice-atlanta.org
Brandon Lee 773-271-0899 x 200 blee@advancingjustice-chicago.org
Alison Vu (213) 241-0283 avu@advancingjustice-la.org

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Asian Americans Advancing Justice is a national affiliation of five leading organizations advocating for the civil and human rights of Asian Americans and other underserved communities to promote a fair and equitable society for all. The affiliation’s members are: Advancing Justice – AAJC (Washington, D.C.), Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus (San Francisco), Advancing Justice – Los Angeles, Advancing Justice – Atlanta, and Advancing Justice – Chicago