Federal Court Blocks Citizenship Question on 2020 Census

WASHINGTON – Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) Chair Judy Chu (D-Pasadena) on Jan. 15 released the following statement following a federal court ruling to block the Trump Administration from adding an untested citizenship question to the 2020 Census:

“It is critical that we have an accurate census so we can know who is in our country, where they live, and what their needs are.

“But with this citizenship question, Trump tried to twist the 2020 Census into just another weapon in his war on immigrants, aiming to drive down responses and intentionally leading to a less representative government by hiding millions.

“It was clear to any observer that the citizenship question was included for partisan reasons, and over the objections of experts who warned that it would lead to inaccurate census results.

“I even asked [Commerce] Secretary [Wilbur] Ross about the origin of this question in the Ways and Means Committee, but he gave an untruthful answer, making it harder for us to truly judge the merits of this question.

“I’m glad the court has intervened to stop this hastily crafted and dangerous question from distorting our census.”