Judge OKs lawsuit over 2020 census citizenship question

A federal judge on Thursday gave the green light to a lawsuit seek- ing to block the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census, saying plaintiffs had made a plausible case that the move was a deliberate attempt by the White House to discriminate against immigrants.

The ruling, by U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Fur- man in Manhattan, set the stage for a trial this fall that is expected to delve into how and why the Trump administration decided in March to add a question to the next census about citizenship status.

The pla i ntiffs, which include state and local governments and advocacy groups, claim that asking residents to verify their citi- zenship would “fatally under- mine” the accuracy of the head count because both legal and unauthorized immigrants would refuse to fill out the form.

A reduced count in areas with large immigrant popu- lations could reduce Demo- cratic representation when new state and congressio- nal districts are drawn in 2021, and skew the distribu- tion of hundreds of billions of dollars in federal grants and other spending.

Furman rejected a claim that Commerce Secretary Wilbur L. Ross Jr., who made the decision to add the question to the census form, lacked the authority to do so. But the judge said the circumstances surrounding Ross’ actions, including his shifting explanation of what he did and why, raised questions about his true intent.

Ross originally said he acted at the request of the Justice Department, which he said needed better citizenship data to enforce the 1965 Voting Rights Act. But he later admitted — and Commerce Department documents confirmed — that he had discussed the citizenship question with administration officials from almost the beginning of his tenure in the department, and that he or his aides had asked the Justice Department to request that the question be added.