ACLU Comment on Federal Court Victory in Census Citizenship Lawsuit

NEW YORK — A federal court has rejected the Trump administration’s addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The American Civil Liberties Union, New York Civil Liberties Union, and Arnold & Porter brought the challenge on behalf of immigrants’ rights groups.

The ruling comes after a three-week trial in November in which the groups presented evidence that the citizenship question was unnecessary and designed to suppress census participation by immigrant communities. Lower turnouts ultimately affect the allocation of congressional seats and billions in federal dollars for services.

Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, had this reaction to today’s decision:

“This ruling is a forceful rebuke of the Trump administration’s attempt to weaponize the census for an attack on immigrant communities.

“The evidence at trial, including from the government’s own witness, exposed how adding a citizenship question would wreck the once-in-a-decade count of the nation’s population. The inevitable result would have been — and the administration’s clear intent was — to strip federal resources and political representation from those needing it most.”

Plaintiffs are the New York Immigration Coalition, Make the Road New York, Casa de Maryland, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and ADC Research Institute.

The ruling is at: https://www.aclu.org/legal-document/new-york-immigration-coalition-v-united-states-department-commerce-ruling

More information is at: https://www.aclu.org/cases/new-york-immigration-coalition-v-united-states-department-commerce