Missouri v. U.S. Department of Commerce

Civil rights organizations are stepping in to defend the integrity of the U.S. Census after the State of Missouri filed a sweeping legal challenge that would fundamentally alter how representation in this country is determined. Missouri seeks to exclude undocumented immigrants and people living in the United States on temporary visas from the census count used for congressional apportionment—an attack on a constitutional mandate that has governed the census for more than two centuries.

If successful, Missouri’s challenge would erase millions of residents from the census and retroactively distort political representation years after the 2020 count, now in a third election cycle. The consequences would be sweeping and severe: states could lose congressional seats and Electoral College votes, while communities would be deprived of their fair share of federal resources. Census data determines the allocation of more than $2.8 trillion each year for healthcare, education, housing, infrastructure, and other essential services, and an undercount would disproportionately harm immigrant communities and communities of color.

The intervenors—OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates, Make the Road New York, the New York Immigration Coalition, and FIEL Houston—are represented by the ACLU, partner affiliates, and Asian Americans Advancing Justice - AAJC to defend the fundamental principle that everyone counts. For generations, the census has counted all residents regardless of citizenship or immigration status, as the Constitution requires. The intervenors urge the court to reject Missouri’s attempt to rewrite the Constitution and to uphold a full and accurate census that ensures equal representation and resources for all communities.