California AG to sue Trump administration over census citizenship question

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) said late Monday he is filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its decision to include a question on citizenship in the 2020 census. 

“We’re prepared to do what we must to protect California from a deficient Census. Including a citizenship question on the 2020 census is not just a bad idea — it is illegal,” Becerra said in a statement.

#BREAKING: Filing suit against @realdonaldtrump‘s Administration over decision to add #citizenship question on #2020Census. Including the question is not just a bad idea — it is illegal: https://t.co/vW8sa7khq9

— Xavier Becerra (@AGBecerra) March 27, 2018

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced his decision to reinstate the citizenship question in a post on the Commerce website, despite strong objections from Democrats in recent weeks.

{mosads}The Department of Justice under Attorney General Jeff Sessions has pushed for inclusion of the question, arguing that it would allow the department to better enforce the Voting Rights Act.

Hours before the decision was announced, an op-ed penned by Becerra and California Secretary of State Alex Padilla (D) was published that argued including the question would disproportionately affect California, which has several large immigrant communities. 

However, Democrats have expressed concerns that adding the question would result in an inaccurate population count because it would discourage some immigrants from filling out the questionnaire, given the Trump administration’s crackdown on those in the country illegally. 

Several lawmakers voiced opposition to the announcement on Monday night.

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) used the announcement to promote a bill he and other Senate Democrats introduced that would prohibit the census from asking about citizenship or immigration status. 

The federal census is NOT a tool to rally the President’s base. It’s a constitutionally mandated count of every single PERSON living in this country.

More important than ever to pass my bill to prevent this w/ @CoryBooker @maziehirono & many @SenateDems https://t.co/RbU1Z2wEPk https://t.co/VC8Wfu1r7A

— Senator Bob Menendez (@SenatorMenendez) March 27, 2018

Rep. José Serrano (D-N.Y.) also vowed to present an amendment to eliminate the citizenship question.

@CommerceGov Secretary Ross’ decisión to include a citizenship question in the 2020 census wil only result in a low count and fear. The question is another way to push for a low & unfair count. I will present amendment to undo this language. @uscensusbureau

— Jose E. Serrano (@RepJoseSerrano) March 27, 2018

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D), who represents parts of New York City, said Ross “deliberately compromised the integrity of the Census for political purposes.”

By adding a citizenship question to the #2020Census, @SecretaryRoss has succumbed to the hateful, nativist views that are the hallmark of this administration & deliberately compromised the integrity of the #Census for political purposes. https://t.co/fVMRJYtiqK

— Carolyn B. Maloney (@RepMaloney) March 27, 2018

But GOP Rep. Warren Davidson (Ohio) spoke out in favor of the Trump administration’s decision, arguing representation in the House “should be based on citizens, not on residents.”

#CitizenshipMatters Apportionment for Congressional seats and electoral votes should be based on citizens, not on residents. Otherwise citizens are underrepresented… For example, California gets roughly three extra members of Congress based on estimates of illegal residents. https://t.co/Acq02zM4Ev

— Warren Davidson (@WarrenDavidson) March 27, 2018