Supreme Court puts census citizenship question on hold – for now
The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the Trump administration’s reason for adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The decision is a victory for Asian American and Pacific Islander communities and other historically undercounted populations, but it’s still unclear whether the question will appear on the census forms each household will receive next spring.
“The hard work by several groups in our community to advocate on the importance of the census and raise awareness about the citizenship question and its implications has made a tremendous impact,” said Michael Byun, executive director of Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS). “No matter where we live or the color of our skin, every person deserves to be counted in the 2020 census. The citizenship question was a blatant attempt by the Trump administration to divide our nation by race and immigration status and frighten communities of color away from census participation.”
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., writing on behalf of the 5-to-4 majority opinion, wrote that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’s reason for adding the citizenship question “appears to have been contrived.” He added the Commerce Department must provide a clearer explanation for wanting to add the question and left open the possibility it could provide a better answer.
Whether the Commerce Department has sufficient time to come up with an adequate answer and get Supreme Court approval was unclear. Census Bureau officials have said the hard deadline for completing the questionnaire was July 1. After Thursday’s ruling, President Trump tweeted that he has “asked the lawyers if they can delay the Census, no matter how long, until the United State Supreme Court is given additional information from which it can make a final and decisive decision on this very critical matter.”
Byun was cautiously optimistic the Supreme Court’s decision will stand, but affirmed he and the coalition of community groups fighting for an accurate count in historically undercounted populations will remain vigilant whatever may follow.
“This is not the first time that communities have stood together against attempts to exclude people of color from democratic representation – from enforcing the voting rights act in Central Washington, to the Census. We are determined to make sure the census lives up to its constitutional promise to count everyone who lives here—no exceptions,” said Byun.
