California, New York To Sue Over Citizenship Question on 2020 Census

The states of California and New York are filing lawsuits against the Department of Commerce over a new question about citizenship status that has been added to the 2020 census. Opponents say the question could lower participation rates by immigrants, causing an undercount of the population. 

California's state Attorney General Xavier Becerra warned the Commerce Department last month about the new question saying, "including a citizenship question on the 2020 census is not just a bad idea - it is illegal."

The Department of Commerce was given until the end of March to come up with the questions that will appear on the 2020 census. The department said that the new question about an individual's citizenship status will assist the Justice Department in enforcing the Voting Rights Act, which protects minority voting rights. 

"Secretary Ross determined that obtaining complete and accurate information to meet this legitimate government purpose outweighed the limited potential adverse impacts," the department said in its announcement.

New York state's Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced on Tuesday that he will lead the multistate lawsuit filed against the Commerce Department to block the decision. The statement did not reveal which other states would join New York in their lawsuit. California filed its own lawsuit against the Commerce Department Monday night saying the move violates the Constitution by interfering with the government's duty to conduct a full count. 

Both states are home to large immigrant populations and opponents say the question about a person's citizenship could further discourage immigrants from participating in the count. Courts have long held that the census should count total population, regardless of immigration status. 

The United States is required to conduct a census every ten years by the Constitution and is used to determine the country's population size, how much representation each state should have as well as funding levels for the billions of dollars distributed by the federal government every year. 

Counts are taken every year by self-reporting surveys and workers walking through neighborhoods. The 2010 census saw about 74 percent of households mailing in forms, while the remaining households were counted by workers. 

The Commerce Department pointed out that between 1820 and 1950, nearly every census taken asked about a person's citizenship status in one form or another. 

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