www.fgks.org   »   [go: up one dir, main page]
Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • Updated Final HR 7109 Sign On

    Uploaded by

    The Brennan Center for Justice
    320 views4 pages
    A letter to Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the 74 signatories – which include the Brennan Center for Justice – detailed the serious constitutional and practical problems with the bill HR-7109.

    Original Title

    Updated Final Hr 7109 Sign On

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Report this Document
    A letter to Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the 74 signatories – which include the Brennan Center for Justice – detailed the serious constitutional and practical problems with the bill HR-7109.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pdf or txt
    320 views4 pages

    Updated Final HR 7109 Sign On

    Uploaded by

    The Brennan Center for Justice
    A letter to Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the 74 signatories – which include the Brennan Center for Justice – detailed the serious constitutional and practical problems with the bill HR-7109.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 4

    Officers

    Chair April 9, 2024


    Judith L. Lichtman
    National Partnership for
    Women & Families
    Vice Chairs
    Margaret Huang
    The Honorable James Comer The Honorable Jamie Raskin
    Southern Poverty Law Center
    Derrick Johnson Chairman Ranking Member
    NAACP
    Thomas A. Saenz House Committee on Oversight and House Committee on Oversight and
    Mexican American Legal
    Defense and Educational Fund Accountability Accountability
    Secretary
    Fatima Goss Graves 2410 Rayburn House Office Building 2242 Rayburn House Office Building
    National Women's Law Center
    Treasurer Washington, DC 20515 Washington, DC 20515
    Lee A. Saunders
    American Federation of State,
    County and Municipal Employees

    Board of Directors
    Abed Ayoub Dear Chairman Comer and Ranking Member Raskin:
    American-Arab
    Anti-Discrimination Committee
    Gloria L. Blackwell
    AAUW On behalf of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by
    Shawn Fain
    International Union, UAW its diverse membership of more than 240 national organizations to promote and protect the
    Jocelyn Frye
    National Partnership for
    Women & Families
    rights of all persons in the United States, our Census Task Force co-chairs, Asian Americans
    Jonathan Greenblatt
    Anti-Defamation League
    Advancing Justice | AAJC and NALEO Educational Fund, and the 74 undersigned
    Mary Kay Henry organizations, we write to urge you to oppose H.R. 7109, the Equal Representation Act,
    Service Employees International Union
    Damon Hewitt and any future efforts to ask about citizenship or immigration status on the decennial
    Lawyers' Committee for
    Civil Rights Under Law census and to exclude noncitizens from the apportionment counts.
    David H. Inoue
    Japanese American Citizens League
    Virginia Kase Solomón
    League of Women Voters of the As a threshold matter, H.R. 7109 seeks to achieve a clearly unconstitutional purpose,
    United States
    Marc Morial
    National Urban League
    according to both Republican and Democratic administrations and the Congressional
    Janet Murguía
    UnidosUS
    Research Service.1 It would require the U.S. Census Bureau to exclude noncitizens from the
    Svante Myrick
    People For the American Way
    congressional apportionment calculation after each census — an action that would clearly
    Janai Nelson
    NAACP Legal Defense and
    violate the plain meaning of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to apportion seats
    Educational Fund, Inc.
    Christian F. Nunes based on “the whole number of persons in each State” (emphasis added). The 14th
    National Organization for Women
    Rabbi Jonah Pesner Amendment was enacted, in relevant part, to repeal the provision in Article I that counted
    Religious Action Center
    of Reform Judaism slaves as only three-fifths of a person for apportionment purposes; H.R. 7109 evokes this
    Rebecca Pringle
    National Education Association shameful legacy by treating noncitizens as less than a person. The U.S. Supreme Court has
    Lisa Rice
    National Fair Housing Alliance recently noted that “representatives serve all residents, not just those eligible to vote,” when
    Kelley Robinson
    Human Rights Campaign considering the 14th Amendment’s requirements in Evenwel v. Abbott (578 U.S. ___). 136
    Anthony Romero
    American Civil Liberties Union S.Ct. 1120 (2016)).
    Liz Shuler
    AFL-CIO
    Fawn Sharp
    National Congress of American Indians Moreover, the bill essentially seeks to amend the Constitution through legislation, by
    Maria Town
    American Association of changing the 14th Amendment apportionment directive from an allocation of seats based on a
    People with Disabilities
    Randi Weingarten
    American Federation of Teachers
    John C. Yang
    1
    Lee, Margaret M. Lunder, Erika K. “Constitutionality of Excluding Aliens from the Census for
    Asian Americans Advancing Justice |
    AAJC
    Apportionment and Redistricting Purposes.” Congressional Research Service. January 1, 2010.
    https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc627196/m1/1/high_res_d/R41048_2010Jan20.pdf;
    President and CEO See also “Apportioning Seats in the U.S. House of Representatives Using the 2013 Estimated Citizen
    Maya Wiley
    Population.” Congressional Research Service. October 30, 2015.
    https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R41636.
    April 9, 2024
    Page 2 of 4

    count of all persons, to one based only on citizens. This effort directly contradicts the established process
    for amending the Constitution, set forth in Article V.

    Equally troubling, if enacted, this section would put the success of future censuses at risk:

    1. H.R. 7109 would undermine 2030 Census accuracy in every state and every community by
    creating a climate of fear among all immigrants. Asking about citizenship and immigration
    status in the census is unnecessarily intrusive and will raise concerns among all respondents —
    both native-born and immigrant, citizens and noncitizens, and mixed-status households alike —
    about the confidentiality and privacy of information provided to the government. This will have a
    chilling effect, keep many households from responding, and undermine the accuracy of the count.
    2. The Census Bureau cannot reliably determine the citizenship and immigration status of all
    residents without destroying the chance for an accurate census in all states. Census Bureau
    research and testing have shown that response rates would decrease if such a question were added
    to the census. The result would be that millions of citizens and noncitizens alike, especially
    people living in mixed-status households, including many children, would be missed. Because
    census data guide the allocation of $2.8 trillion annually in federal assistance to states, localities,
    individuals, and families for a range of vital services, an inaccurate census will skew the fair and
    prudent distribution of federal resources for the next decade.

    In short, H.R. 7109 seeks to accomplish an unconstitutional goal; tries to amend the Constitution through
    unconstitutional means; and would put the accuracy of the multi-billion dollar, constitutionally required
    decennial census at grave risk in every state and community. For these reasons, we strongly urge you to
    oppose H.R. 7109 and any further efforts to ask about citizenship status on the decennial census and to
    exclude noncitizens from the apportionment counts.

    Thank you for considering our views. If you have any questions, please contact Meeta Anand, senior
    program director of census and data equity at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, at
    anand@civilrights.org.

    Sincerely,

    The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights


    Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC
    National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund

    ACCESS REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE


    Advancement Project
    AHRI Center
    American Atheists
    American Civil Liberties Union
    Arab American Institute
    Asian American Legal Defense & Education Fund
    April 9, 2024
    Page 3 of 4

    Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote)


    Autistic Self Advocacy Network
    Battle Born Progress
    Bend the Arc: Jewish Action
    Brennan Center for Justice
    Building Skills Partnership
    Campaign Legal Center
    Catalyst of San Diego & Imperial Counties
    Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
    Chipsa LCV
    Coalicion de Lideres Latinos Inc -CLILA-
    Coalition on Human Needs
    Common Cause
    Demos
    End Citizens United//Let America Vote Action Fund
    Equality California
    Fair Count, Inc.
    Fair Elections Center
    First Focus Campaign for Children
    Georgia Redistricting Alliance
    Governmet Information Watch
    Houston Immigration Legal Services
    Immigration Center for Women and Children
    Interfaith Alliance
    Japanese American Citizens League (JACL)
    Jewish Council for Public Affairs
    Labor Council for Latin American Advancement
    Latino Community Fund (LCF Georgia)
    Lawyers for Good Government
    Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
    League of Conservation Voters
    Migrant Equity Southeast
    Movement Advancement Project
    National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA)
    National Association of Social Workers
    National Coalition for Literacy
    National Community Action Partnership
    National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA)
    National Council of Churches
    National Council of Jewish Women
    National Disability Rights Network (NDRN)
    National Federation of Filipino American Associations
    National Organization for Women
    April 9, 2024
    Page 4 of 4

    National Urban League


    National Women's Law Center
    NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
    Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children
    People For the American Way
    PFLAG National
    Prison Policy Initiative
    Project on Government Oversight
    Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America)
    Silver State Equality
    Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC)
    Stop AAPI Hate
    The Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy & Innovation
    The League of Women Voters of the United States
    The Workers Circle
    Transformative Justice Coalition
    UUFNV
    Voto Latino
    Washington Anti-Hunger & Nutrition Coalition
    We Love Buford Highway, Inc.
    Whitman-Walker Institute
    William E. Morris Insitute for Justice
    World Without Genocide
    ZERO TO THREE

    cc: Members, House Committee on Oversight and Accountability

    You might also like