Cecilia Clarke, President and CEO of Brooklyn Community Foundation, the first and only public foundation dedicated to New York City’s largest borough, released the following statement in response to today’s Supreme Court ruling that the Department of Commerce must provide stronger justification if they are to proceed with the inclusion of a citizenship question in the 2020 Census:

 

“Today’s Supreme Court decision can be credited to the efforts of front-line advocates and activists, including many of our own grantees here in Brooklyn, working tirelessly to uphold our right to a fair census count. This decision will impact the nearly 40% of the borough’s population who are foreign-born, including 170,000 undocumented residents. 

 

The Trump administration has purposefully created an atmosphere of confusion and fear around the census, aggressively politicizing the count in order to target and further marginalize historically undercounted communities of color. 

 

The Court’s decision to remand the case is promising, and we will not slow our efforts to advocate for a fair count in Brooklyn. We are committed to continuing our work with local government and our philanthropic and nonprofit partners to alleviate fears and ensure that adequate resources get to the ground as we #MakeBrooklynCount.

 

Over the past year, Brooklyn Community Foundation has been fighting for a fair Census 2020 including creating a Brooklyn Complete Count Committee with Brooklyn Borough Hall and making grants to groups working on the frontlines of census advocacy.

 

We will continue with this critical work that stands for democracy, racial justice, and a fair and just Brooklyn.”