State AG fighting ‘citizen’ queries

NEW YORK Attorney General Eric Schneiderman will lead a lawsuit aimed at stopping the 2020 Census from asking if people are citizens — something he and other New York officials say could be disastrous for New York and other diverse states.

The contentious question was greenlit ahead of the Saturday deadline to submit a formal list of questions. It had been dropped from the U.S. Census Bureau’s decennial survey 70 years ago.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross claimed the data will be used to track “alleged or suspected” Voting Rights Act violations to protect minority voters.

But in New York, Schneiderman and other officials say the question could make people afraid to respond to the Census — which is used to allocate federal tax dollars and determine representation in the House.

“This move directly targets states like New York that have large, thriving immigrant populations — threatening billions of dollars in federal funding for New York as well as fair representation in Congress and the Electoral College,” Schneiderman said.

Gov. Cuomo also ripped the decision — calling it a “gross political act.”

“By leading to a misrepresentation of the number of New Yorkers, this question will jeopardize critical funding for New York’s health care, social services and other vital programs,” he said.

Mayor de Blasio said the decision would put “our amazing city of immigrants in jeopardy.”

In Washington, the White House offered false information to defend the change.

“This is a question that’s been included in every census since 1965, with the exception of 2010, when it was removed,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday.

The official census has not included the question since 1950. There was no census in 1965; they are taken every 10 years.