FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS CITIZENSHIP QUESTION

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from asking about citizenship status on the 2020 Census, the first major ruling in cases contending that officials added the question to intentionally undercount immigrants.

Behind the dispute

The lawsuit revolves around the question of whether the 2020 Census should ask respondents if they are citizens. A similar question was asked in most censuses before 1960.

Who opposes it

The plaintiffs have accused the Trump administration of adding the question to intentionally discourage immigrants from participating, which could lead to a population undercount — and possibly fewer seats in Congress — in places that tend to vote Democratic. The Census Bureau itself had recommended against adding a citizenship question, fearing an undercount.

In his ruling Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman ruled that while such a question would be constitutional, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross had added it arbitrarily and not followed proper administrative procedures.

Who supports it

The Justice Department said Ross’ decision to reinstate a citizenship question was reasonable because the government has asked a citizenship question for most of the past 200 years, Justice Department spokeswoman Kelly Laco said.

The official explanation from Ross was that he was responding to a request by the Justice Department, which stated that census data on citizenship would help it better enforce the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Ross later acknowledged that he had begun considering the issue within days of becoming commerce secretary in 2017.

In a dissent on a Supreme Court order related to the case, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote that there was “nothing unusual about a new cabinet secretary coming to office inclined to favor a different policy direction, soliciting support from other agencies to bolster his views, disagreeing with staff, or cutting through red tape.”

What’s next

The Trump administration had tried to stop the case from going forward. The administration is likely to appeal Furman’s decision to the Supreme Court.

Testing of Census 2020 questions is over, but after an outcry about the untested citizenship question, the Census Bureau said it will test the question this summer to gauge its effect on response rates.