MALDEF TO PRESENT ORAL ARGUMENT SEEKING TO DISMISS ALABAMA SUIT TO EXCLUDE CERTAIN IMMIGRANTS FROM CENSUS COUNT

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) will present oral argument on Friday in favor of dismissing a federal lawsuit filed by the State of Alabama.  The suit seeks to require the Census Bureau to exclude undocumented immigrants from the 2020 Census data used for reapportionment.  MALDEF will argue in favor of a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on the basis that Alabama lacks standing to sue the Department of Commerce for the remedy it seeks.

MALDEF Statement on Passing of California Latino Activist and Advocate Nativo Lopez  

LOS ANGELES – Please attribute the following statement marking the passing of Nativo Lopez, an outspoken activist who established the Santa Ana chapter of Hermandad Mexicana National and spoke out on behalf of immigrants’ rights, to Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of  MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund):

MALDEF STATEMENT ON NINTH CIRCUIT DECISION UPHOLDING MOST OF CALIFORNIA SANCTUARY LAWS 

SAN FRANCISCO – A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit today upheld the entirety of California Senate Bill 54 (SB 54), which enacted important limits on cooperation by state and local officials with federal immigration authorities, and significant portions of two other state “sanctuary” laws challenged by the Trump administration.  SB 54, signed into law in 2017, increases immigrant community cooperation with local law enforcement agencies by restricting their involvement in immigration enforcement.