Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., went after President Trump’s administration for refusing to release documents related to changes in the citizenship question, saying Trump was cheating ahead of the 2020 election.
“This is about not counting everyone that is in our country. This is a political motive,” the Michigan Democrat said Wednesday about the Trump administration refusing to release documents related to their decision to include a citizenship question on the census. “I have to say to this fact, this is cheating in many ways, an election. This is cheating by saying we don’t want to count everybody. We want to count as less people as possible, and that impacts directly communities of color.”
“Is it really about citizenship? No. It is about reducing the number of people of color in this country being counted in the census. That’s exactly what it is about. Because you want to cheat. He wants to cheat, Mr. Chairman. He wants to cheat this process,” Tlaib added during the Oversight and Government Reform Committee meeting.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., joined Tlaib in her outrage, calling the citizenship question horrible.
“Unspeakable horrors have been executed by the United States in the name of citizenship, in the name of determining who is a citizen. And by citizen, we mean who is a person in our democracy,” the New York Democrat said.
The congresswoman later tweeted her comments, calling into question the Supreme Court’s credibility.
“Dred Scott. Korematsu vs. United States. Citizens United. Party aside, the Supreme Court has gotten things horrifyingly wrong in the past. That’s why Congress must preserve our power and independence: We are part of the check and balance,” she said, referring to controversial Supreme Court cases.
The House panel voted to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with the committee’s investigation.
