WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday maintained a hold on the Trump administration’s effort to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, and the question’s opponents say there’s no time to revisit the issue before next week’s scheduled start to the printing of census forms.
But President Donald Trump said on Twitter after the decision that he’s asked 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 the issue. Under federal law the census must begin on April 1, 2020.
“Can anyone really believe that as a great Country we are not able to ask whether or not someone is a Citizen,” Trump wrote. “Only in America!”
The high court did not say the question could not be asked, just that the administration’s current justification for adding the question was insufficient.
Opponents say adding the question has the potential to affect the amount of federal money that goes to each state and their representation in Congress. The Census Bureau said in a brief statement only that the decision is “currently being reviewed.”
The American Civil Liberties Union’s Dale Ho, who argued against the citizenship question’s addition at the Supreme Court said “there really, really is not time” for the administration to revisit adding the question.
The decision came on the last day the court was issuing opinions before a summer break. Also on Thursday the court issued a decision in a second politically-charged case, dealing a huge blow to efforts to combat the drawing of electoral districts for partisan gain.
The Census Bureau’s own experts predict that millions of Hispanics and immigrants would go uncounted if the census asked everyone if he or she is an American citizen. And immigrant advocacy organizations and Democratic-led states, cities and counties that challenged the question’s addition argue it is intended to discourage the participation of minorities, primarily Hispanics, who tend to support Democrats, from filling out census forms.
D emocratic-led states said they would get less federal money and fewer seats in Congress if the census asks about citizenship because people with noncitizens in their households would be less likely to fill out their census forms.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the Supreme Court’s opinion in the census case, with the four liberal justices joining him in the relevant part of the outcome. Roberts said the Trump administration’s explanation for wanting to add the question “seems to have been contrived.”
The Trump administration had said the question was being added to aid in enforcement of the Voting Rights Act, which protects minority voters’ access to the ballot box. But the Justice Department had never previously sought a citizenship question in the 54-year history of the landmark voting rights law.
Roberts wrote that evidence showed that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross “was determined to reinstate a citizenship question from the time he entered office.” The Commerce Department oversees the Census Bureau.
Roberts added that there is “a significant mismatch between the decision the secretary made and the rationale he provided.” The court sent the issue of adding the citizenship question back to administration officials.
It’s not clear whether the Trump administration could try again to add the question, providing a fuller explanation of the reasons for doing so. Opponents said that can’t be done quickly and that the problems identified by the court could be hard to overcome, but they didn’t rule out that the administration might try.
Evidence uncovered since the Supreme Court heard arguments in the case in late April supports claims that the citizenship question is part of a broader Republican effort to accrue political power at the expense of minorities, the challengers say.
The Constitution requires a census count every 10 years. A question about citizenship had once been common, but it has not been widely asked since 1950. At the moment, the question is part of a separate detailed annual sample of a small chunk of the population, the American Community Survey.
I don’t believe that the fight is over. SCOTUS only kicked this back to the Commerce Department to rework the justification, which the court did not find to be legally sufficient.
The task now goes back to the Commerce Department lawyers to resolve. Those boys are about to have a very busy weekend.
The left is characterizing this as a major victory. Either they don’t understand the ruling or are desperate for any kind of win. Maybe a little of both.
Seems like a pretty common sense question. Why would democrats be opposed to getting more objective data on the scale and magnitude of the illegal immigration problem? Are they afraid that it could reveal politically inconvenient information?
OK someone educate me.
How is a question on the census in the purview of SCOTUS as it related to Constitutionality?
The Constitution requires that the US government conduct a census every 10 years. Because of this constitutional requirement the left feels that they can challenge any changes to questions that have previously been asked over the years to the Supreme Court.
What makes the argument stupid is that this question used to be a part of the census for many many decades and then it got taken off in recent years.
Regardless, this decision should have people angry.
The census’ main purpose is to determine representation via population distribution. These people aren’t allowed to vote yet they have representation? Literal representation without taxation. Fucking clown world.
It’s about the Federal dollars that is allocated to designated regions. Eliminate the illegals part then that plan in states like California and New York goes belly up. The filed lawsuits challenging this issue originated in New York courts! Also they (SCOTUS) only sent it back to commerce secretary Wlibur Ross for more precise language, once he has made the necessary revisions the case will be heard. The argument is there won’t be enough time before the census is to be conducted and when the courts will revisited the case!
I agree. They should not be represented in our government.
The U.S. government is officially illegitimate. If it can’t even ask if someone belongs here, then they certainly can’t defend us from someone who doesn’t belong here, and the main purpose for the government to exist is for protection.
You don’t have a border in a real sense and now you’re not even allowed to know who is a citizen and who isn’t. Your country is just an economy, your people just ‘human resources’. You are disrespected constantly and by default, by design and as a matter of course. This is the New World Order.
Tell me what they were suppose to do? It most likely would have been tied up in the courts for months missing the deadline to print and send out the census inquiry. Do you think they just should have decided to fight and not do the census altogether?
Had a backbone. Pressed the issue. Fought. They just legitimized illegals getting elected representation. This is why the Dems have flooded the country.
You didn’t answer the question! So you think they should have just have forgone the census altogether?
I think my answer was clear.
What a joke of a country. It’s going to be another 3rd world shit hole by the time of the next census. Be sure to still signup to die for Israel while we’re being invaded though, the politicians have decided it’s best for their financiers to have a serf class even if they end up killing, raping, and draining resources from their actual constituents. Can’t have wages actually go up.
If you ask whether or not people are US citizens, then you’ll have an inaccurate count…
All you answered was “Oh I think he should fight” while ignoring the rest of the context of question which basically sums up your original post by reacting with hysteria without any consideration as to why they decided not to pursue this legal issue!
It’s obvious you don’t know what is about to come soon! This is meaningless in the bigger picture!