US Judge Rejects Census Citizenship Question

US District Judge Jesse Furman has blocked the introduction of a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, over concerns that it could deter responses from immigrants, both legal and illegal.

Six months ago, non-profit trade body the Insights Association added its voice to concerns about the question's introduction, after six former Census Bureau Directors (Republicans and Democrats) wrote to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, warning it could put the accuracy of the census at 'grave risk'.

In addition John Abowd, Chief Scientist at the US Census Bureau, claimed that there was 'reliable quantitative evidence' that the response to the 2020 survey would fall if the question about citizenship was included; while New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood claimed the Trump administration wanted to use the question - 'Is this person a citizen of the United States?' - to suppress the response rate and dilute the political power of immigrants and noncitizens.

In a ruling issued yesterday, Judge Furman (pictured) said that Ross's decision to add the citizenship question to the Census was unlawful, adding that asking the question could result in undercounting 'certain sectors' including those who live in households containing noncitizens and Hispanics'.

However, the Trump administration has said it plans to appeal the judge's ruling and be heard in the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals.