Third judge halts Trump administration's citizenship question on the 2020 census

Daily Kos Staff

Friday April 05, 2019 · 11:08 AM PDT

2019/04/05 · 11:08

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 22: Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross (R) speaks before U.S. President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum aimed at what he calls Chinese economic aggression in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on March 22, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) — Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross pushed to add the citizenship question to the 2020 Census.

The Trump administration has now suffered three setbacks in federal court on its bid to add a controversial citizenship question to the 2020 census. U.S. District Judge George Hazel in Maryland ruled Friday that the question regarding whether someone is a U.S. citizen was both unlawful and unconstitutional. Specifically, Hazel concluded that it would hamper the federal government's constitutional requirement to count every person living in the U.S. every 10 years. A federal judge in California used the same rationale in a March ruling against the government.

The ruling will likely be appealed to the Supreme Court, which is already scheduled to hear oral arguments on the matter on April 23 after a New York district court also ruled against inclusion of the question in January.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the question in June, which is also the same month the census must be finalized.

Third judge halts Trump administration's citizenship question on the 2020 census

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