In response to today’s decision by the Supreme Court of the United States to hear a case about the Trump Administration’s attempts to add a question about citizenship to the 2020 Census, Attorney General Letitia James released the following statement:
“Adding a question about citizenship to the Census would incite widespread fear in immigrant communities and greatly impair the accuracy of population counts. Any underrepresentation of the real number of people living in states and localities could reduce representation in Congress and funding for New York and other states and localities across the country. This would have far-reaching and long-lasting effects and is antithetical to the purpose of the Census. The District Court recognized these facts in ruling in favor of our challenge and we look forward to seeing the Trump Administration in court once again.”
In January 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, ruled in favor of the New York Attorney General’s Office in a lawsuit to block the Trump Administration from demanding citizenship information in the 2020 Census. The initial lawsuit was filed in April 2018. New York is leading a coalition of 34 states, cities, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors in this case. The multistate and city suit was consolidated with a case brought by multiple non-profit groups.