New York, NY (Monday, January 24, 2022) -This morning, the NY Independent Redistricting Commission announced it would not meet the January 25 deadline to send a final set of proposed district maps to the NYS legislature. Earlier this month, Albany legislators voted down the two sets of maps the Commission unveiled. The maps detail New York’s congressional and state legislative districts. With the Democrats holding a very narrow majority in the US House of Representatives, these maps will have a national impact.
Murad Awawdeh, Executive Director of NYIC Action, issued the following statement:
“It is absurd that the Independent Redistricting Commission failed in its fundamental mission. We worked too hard to ensure our immigrant communities were counted in the 2020 Census to accept the status quo regarding redistricting and community representation. Albany lawmakers must use the public input submitted to the Commission and deliver fair maps. Immigrants and communities across New York State deserve fair districts, and this is our one chance to get them this decade. Rather than draw partisan maps whose sole purpose is to protect incumbents, as in the past, our State Legislature must deliver for New Yorkers and draw maps that protect minority voting rights and ensure fair representation for all. We call on them to use all public input submitted to the Commission and to hold a hearing for public comment after their maps are drawn and before the vote.”
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About NYIC Action
NYIC Action (nyicaction.org) was originally formed in 2010 as a sister organization to the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), a 501(c)(3) coalition with 200 member organizations across New York State. In order to increase the political potency of the immigrant vote, Immigrant Action endorses candidates and elected officials who stand up for immigrant communities and against anti-immigrant opponents. Immigrant Action engages in targeted advocacy on specific immigrant-related issues such as legislative scorecards, pointed advocacy flyers highlighting individual elected officials’ stances, and intensive grassroots and direct lobbying of elected officials.