Census query nixed

Supreme Court questions ‘rationale’ on citizenship question

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the Trump administration’s attempts to ask respondents if they are U.S. citizens in the next census.

The ruling sent the case to a lower court just ahead of a Department of Commerce July 1 deadline to print the questionnaire and forms for the 2020 census — making it unlikely that the question will be included in the nation’s head count.

But President Donald Trump tweeted that it seemed “totally ridiculous” that the government “cannot ask a basic question of citizenship” as he called for a delay in the 2020 census.

The 5-4 decision left open the ultimate issue of

whether census takers can ask a citizenship question, as the court found fault with the federal government’s “rationale” for including the question, which it said appeared “contrived.”

The opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts all but called Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross a liar.

“Several points, taken together, reveal a significant mismatch between the Secretary’s decision and the rationale he provided,” Roberts wrote for the majority.

Only if government agencies “disclose the basis” for their actions, the high court determined, can the courts pursue “meaningful judicial review.”

“Today’s decision reaffirms that basic principle that agencies have to be truthful with the public for the decisions that they take,” said Dale Ho, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Voting Rights Project.

The U.S. Constitution requires a decennial census, which is used to allocate federal funds and to draw congressional districts. Under federal law the census must start on April 1, 2020.

Every census between 1850 and 2000 has asked some respondents about their citizenship or place of birth.

During the previous census in 2010, the citizenship question was moved to a more select survey of a small sample of households. In March 2018, Ross announced he had decided to reinstate the citizenship question in the 2020 census, ostensibly to help enforcement of

the Voting Rights Act, which protects minority voters’ access to the ballot box.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., defended the move when he told Fox News, “Sanctuary cities are created when you’re asking people to come to your city. I don’t think you should get a benefit from the federal government for doing that. And that’s what happens when you count illegal immigrants.”

Opponents of the citizenship question, however, argued in the court that a return of the citizenship question would lead to undercounts in states with a large undocumented population, which would mean fewer federal resources and less congressional representation.

After the court released its ruling, two veteran Nevada Democrats, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and Rep. Dina Titus, called on Ross to resign.

“Today’s decision is a clear sign that the Supreme Court recognizes this administration tried to lie its way through our judicial system in order to add a political question on citizenship to the 2020 Census,” Cortez Masto said in a statement.

The Census Bureau said in a brief statement only that the decision is “currently being reviewed.” But the ACLU’S Ho said, “Given how many times they represented that they need to start printing the forms next week, I think it would be the height of hypocrisy to try to get more time now,” Ho said.

Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com or at 202-662-7391. Follow @Debrajsaunders on Twitter.