The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Sam Quigley, sam@patrioticmillionaires.org, 202-446-0489

Census Citizenship Question "Blatantly Partisan": SCOTUS Decision "Protects Our Democracy"

This morning, following the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision to block President Trump's plan to add a citizenship question to the US Census, former Managing Director of Blackrock, Inc. and Patriotic Millionaires Chairperson Morris Pearl issued the following statement:

WASHINGTON

This morning, following the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision to block President Trump's plan to add a citizenship question to the US Census, former Managing Director of Blackrock, Inc. and Patriotic Millionaires Chairperson Morris Pearl issued the following statement:

"The claim that including a question about citizenship in the census is necessary to enforce the Voting Rights Act was and is ridiculous, a clear farce intended to mask blatantly partisan motives. Every single reasonable person, all 9 Supreme Court Justices included, knows that the real reason to include a citizenship question in the census is to intimidate residents of areas with large immigrant populations who are already, in the age of Trump, afraid to stand up and be counted. That's it. To pretend otherwise is to be willfully ignorant.

Despite 4 justices wanting to prioritize partisan leanings over the good of the nation, the majority ruled correctly. The Court should have ruled more forcefully against a citizenship question on the census, but a compromise to block it for now is a step in the right direction that protects our democracy. While this comes on the same day on a disastrous and anti-democratic decision on political gerrymandering, the Supreme Court got at least one major decision right today."

For further comments or questions, please contact Sam Quigley at sam@patrioticmillionaires.org.

The Patriotic Millionaires is a group of high-net worth Americans who share a profound concern about the destabilizing level of inequality in America. Our work centers on the two things that matter most in a capitalist democracy: power and money. Our goal is to ensure that the country's political economy is structured to meet the needs of regular Americans, rather than just millionaires. We focus on three "first" principles: a highly progressive tax system, a livable minimum wage, and equal political representation for all citizens.

(202) 446-0489