Stop Donald on census query – suit

A COAST-TO-COAST coalition of cities and states filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday to spike the Trump administration’s plan to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census.

The suit, filed by New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on behalf of the 25 plaintiffs, alleges a query about citizenship status would create devastating population undercounts for many states.

In New York alone, a drop in the population could cost the state some of its House seats along with billions of dollars in federal aid dispersed based only on the number of its residents.

“The prospect of someone saying ‘I am from the Trump administration’ knocking on your door to ask a question about citizenship would provoke real fear,” said Schneiderman (photo).

The prosecutors represent 17 states and the District of Columbia in the legal battle to stop the administration, which has made immigration a major national issue.

The lawsuit was joined by the bipartisan U.S. Conference of Mayors and the cities of New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Providence, San Francisco and Seattle.