People of color made up the vast majority of Texas\u2019 decade-long growth spurt, especially Latinos, a group that accounted for fully half of the state\u2019s growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Republicans control the state\u2019s legislature. And the new political maps they\u2019ve approved in recent days as part of the redistricting process dilute Latinos\u2019 voting power, according to the first lawsuit<\/a> over the maps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The suit, filed Monday in federal court in the Western District of Texas, marks what\u2019s likely to be a fierce struggle over political representation in the increasingly diverse state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People of color made up 95% of Texas\u2019s population growth<\/a> since 2010. Of the state\u2019s roughly 4 million new residents over the past decade, 1,980,796 were Hispanic, 613,092 were Asian, 557,887 were Black \u2014 and just 187,252 were white, the Texas Tribune noted<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That diverse growth is not being represented in newly-drawn political maps, several Latino civil and voting rights groups suing the state say. Rather, Texas Republicans drew up state House, state Senate, state Board of Education and U.S. congressional maps that preserved their power by \u201cpacking\u201d certain districts with Latinos but keeping them out of the majority in new districts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPlaintiffs seek a declaratory judgment that the redistricting plans for the Texas House (Plan H2316), Senate (Plan S2168), SBOE (Plan E2106) and Congress (C2193) violate their civil rights because the plans unlawfully dilute the voting strength of Latinos,\u201d the suit read. \u201cPlaintiffs further seek a declaratory judgment that the challenged redistricting plans intentionally discriminate against them on the basis of race and national origin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The complaint was written by lawyers from the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, or MALDEF. The suit\u2019s defendants, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Deputy Secretary of State Jose A. Esparza, have not responded in court to the complaint, but Republicans lawmakers have said they followed the law with the new districts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At the time the suit was filed Monday, the legislature had approved redistricting plans for the state House and Senate, and was finalizing a plan for U.S. Congress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n By Tuesday, both legislative chambers had approved a final congressional map<\/a> as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Texas\u2019s large population growth meant it was the only state in the country to gain two congressional seats. But despite the state\u2019s white population actually shrinking as a percentage of total residents, the newly drawn and approved districts gave white voters \u201ceffective control\u201d of both new districts, the Tribune reported<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Currently, Latino voting-age residents make up the majority of eight congressional districts. Under the new maps \u2014 despite massive growth of Texas\u2019 Latino population in recent years \u2014 that number would be down to seven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n