Trump Administration Adds Citizenship Question to Census 2020, California Immediately Files Suit
The Commerce Department announced late last night that the 2020 Census will ask about people’s citizenship, which some claim will lead to a significant undercount of immigrant communities. NPR reports. If their immigrant residents are not counted, state and local communities stand to lose significant federal funding.
California has sued the Trump administration over the addition of the citizenship question to the Census. The claim is that the decision to add a question about citizenship in the 2020 Census violates the U.S. Constitution. The California attorney general acted just after the Commerce Department announced the change in a late-night release. Here is the complaint.
The Constitution requires a census, or “actual enumeration,” every 10 years to apportion representation in Congress. Apportionment is based on the “number of free persons” in each state. California’s lawsuit alleges the change violates the constitutional requirement of “actual Enumeration” of every person in every state, every 10 years.
KJ