Justice Department files suit against Texas over GOP-approved redistricted congressional maps

The Justice Department on Monday filed a lawsuit challenging the newly adopted legislative maps of Texas, arguing the state fail to appropriately recognize the growth in the state's Latino population.

The suit argues that the redistricting plan adopted by GOP lawmakers violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

"Although the Texas Congressional delegation expanded from 36 to 38 seats, Texas designed the two new seats to have Anglo voting majorities," the suit states.

The department already this year has filed a suit against Texas alleging that the state legislature passed a so-called voter-integrity package that it argued harmfully restricted residents' ability to vote.

The new suit argues Texas "failed to draw a seat encompassing the growing Latino electorate in Harris County," and "excised minority communities from the core of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

"Texas also eliminated Latino electoral opportunities in the State House plan through manipulation or outright elimination of districts where Latino communities previously had elected their preferred candidates," reads the suit, which was filed in the Western District of Texas. 

Attorney General Merrick Garland commented on the department's effort saying, "The complaint we filed today alleges that Texas has violated Section Two by creating redistricting plans that deny or bridge, the rights of Latino and Black voters to vote on account of their race, color, or membership in a language minority group."