Federal Judge Smacks Down Trump Administration’s Attempt to Add Citizenship Question to 2020 Census

A federal district judge in New York has ruled against the Trump administration in its attempt to add a question about citizenship to the 2020 census. The question, many believe, would cause undocumented immigrants to not respond to the constitutionally-required survey, thus undercounting possibly millions of people in the U.S.

U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman, of the Southern District of New York, noted that if the question were to be included, “hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of people will go uncounted.”

Judge Furman also laid out other reasons for overruling the Trump administration, including Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross (photo) did not include the question on time, a topic of much investigation.

The census has a multitude of practical, real-world, every day applications. In addition to being used to determine how and where $675 billion in federal funds are spent, it determines the number of Representatives in Congress each state is allotted.

Mother Jones’ Ari Berman, an expert on voting rights, called Tuesday’s judicial ruling a “huge victory for democracy.” He adds:

Last year Berman wrote that the Trump administration was “rigging the census,” in an effort “to sideline minority populations in 2020” that “will undermine democracy for decades to come.”

The Trump administration is expected to appeal.

The Huffington Post, which first reported on the ruling, adds that the “Supreme Court will hear oral argument on what evidence the courts can consider in the case in February.”