UPDATE 11a.m., July 3: Donald Trump tweeted this morning saying that he is still trying to delay the Census in order to reargue the case for the citizenship question. The original post is below the tweet.
In a major setback to the GOP and Donald Trump, the printing of the Census form is proceeding without the controversial question asking about a person’s citizenship.
“Everyone in America counts in the census, and today’s decision means we all will,” Dale Ho, who argued the Supreme Court case as director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Voting Rights Project, said on Tuesday (July 2).
The Commerce Department will go ahead with the printing of the decennial tally despite Trump’s request to delay the Census.
“This decision to move forward with the census without the problematic citizenship question is a victory for democracy!” said Rep. Judy Chu, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.
“Despite the false answer Secretary (Wilbur) Ross gave me about the origin of this question, we know from court records that the citizenship question was put forward by a Republican strategist looking to help the Republican party. In order to do so, they wanted to use the citizenship question as a way to frighten immigrants away from the census, hiding the true number of people in this country, and jeopardizing federal representation and funding for everything from housing to transportation to education.,” continued Chu from California.”
After the US Supreme Court turned down the Trump administration’s appeal of a lower court decision to reject the question, Trump said last week he was looking at pushing a delay in the population count over the issue, which he’s positioned as part of his broader crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
“I have asked the lawyers if they can delay the Census, no matter how long, until the United States Supreme Court is given additional information from which it can make a final and decisive decision on this very critical matter,” he tweeted.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund both sued to block the question based on the new evidence. Others joined in support.
The two groups along with other civil rights organizations argued that asking the citizenship question was an attempt to dissuade minorities and immigrants from taking part in the Census.
The Census’ own study estimated that the question would lead to an undercount of millions of people in the US.
Most recently, those challenging the question presented an unpublished 2015 study by a Republican redistricting expert as evidence that citizenship data would benefit Republicans when new political boundaries are drawn based on the 2020 census.
In the 2016 and the 2018 elections, most immigrants and people of color who were citizens tended to register themselves as Democrats.
The US Census, mandated by the Constitution, forms the basis for representation in government and the allocation of federal funds for everything from infrastructure to social services.
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