Thread: Trump Hit With New Suit Over Census Citizenship Question

Trump Hit With New Suit Over Census Citizenship Question

Law360 (June 6, 2018, 2:21 PM EDT)

The Trump administration on Wednesday was hit with another lawsuit challenging its decision to add a question to the 2020 census asking whether individuals are U.S. citizens, with several immigration organizations contending in New York federal court that the inclusion will depress participation among minorities.

The federal government has violated the U.S. Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act by adding the question without sufficient justification, particularly after government agencies determined that the question could reduce participation among immigrants, according to the complaint filed by groups including the New York Immigration Coalition, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and Make the Road New York.

"The addition of the citizenship question is a naked act of intentional discrimination directed at immigrant communities of color that is intended to punish their presence, avoid their recognition, stunt their growing political power and deprive them and the communities in which they live of economic benefits," the complaint says.

Wednesday's complaint is the latest in a series of lawsuits that challenge the question, which U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur L. Ross has contended was added so the ensuing data could be used to enforce the Voting Rights Act and its protections against racial discrimination in voting.

In another case in the Southern District of New York challenging the question, the federal government last month urged the court to toss the case, arguing that the states and municipalities that initiated the litigation failed to raise a legitimate legal question.

It should not be up to the judiciary to decide which questions are included in the census, Ross has broad discretion under long-standing congressional directive to set the questions included in the census and the question does not impede the ability to count the nation's residents, the government said.

"Plaintiffs' theory would call into question the constitutionality of asking any demographic questions — e.g., about sex, Hispanic origin, race or relationship status — that are unnecessary to count the population and that could cause at least some individuals not to respond for any of various reasons, such as discomfort with the question or increased time needed to answer," it said.

The immigration organizations in the instant case want the court to declare that adding the question violates the Constitution and the APA and asks that it bar the federal government from doing so.

"President [Donald] Trump is adding the citizenship question into his toxic stew of racist rants and draconian policies in order to stoke fear, undercount and strip political power from immigrant communities," said Sarah Brannon of the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, an attorney representing the organizations, in a statement on Wednesday.

Federal government officials could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday.

The immigration organizations are represented by Andrew Bauer, John Freedman, David Gersch, Peter Grossi Jr., R. Stanton Jones, Eric Rubel, David Weiner, Robert Weiner, Barbara Wootton, Elisabeth Theodore, Daniel Jacobson, Caroline Kelly, Christine Lao-Scott, Jay Leff, Chase Raines and Dylan Young of Arnold & Porter, Dale Ho, David Hausman, Sarah Brannon, Davin Rosborough, Ceridwen Cherry, Arthur Eisenberg, Christopher Dunn and Perry Grossman of the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, Samer Khalaf of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and Nicolas Katz of CASA de Maryland.

Counsel information for the federal government was not immediately available on Wednesday.

The case is New York Immigration Coalition et al. v. U.S. Department of Commerce et al., case number 1:18-cv-05025, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

https://www.law360.com/immigration/a...nship-question

Americans woke up and are no longer going to turn a blind eye to the DemoRAT corrupt
policies that put the welfare of illegal aliens over their own citizens.

No U.S. citizen (outside of the DemoRAT party) would question the motives of the Administration for adding citizenship
question to the Census.

On the other hand, DemoRAT corrupt politicians, illegal alien Dreamers and open border losers are in panic mode
because this changes the demographics of blue states and diminishes their power and stronghold in cities like
Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and New York.

Originally Posted by lorrie

The federal government has violated the U.S. Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act by adding the question without sufficient justification, particularly after government agencies determined that the question could reduce participation among immigrants, according to the complaint filed by groups including the New York Immigration Coalition, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and Make the Road New York.

Not "immigrants", "illegal aliens", people who are not supposed to be here, and should not count!

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems I read somewhere that such a question used to appear on the census years ago. Has a law been inacted to prevent the census from going back and including the question? Doubtful.

Originally Posted by MW

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems I read somewhere that such a question used to appear on the census years ago. Has a law been inacted to prevent the census from going back and including the question? Doubtful.

Citizen question was removed in 2010 by President Obama

Originally Posted by jtdc

Not "immigrants", "illegal aliens", people who are not supposed to be here, and should not count!

No one should count for representation in Congress except legal citizens. Legal immigrants shouldn't even count. There should be no political advantage at all of any kind related to immigration and the number of representatives any state has in the US House of Representatives.

Originally Posted by Judy

No one should count for representation in Congress except legal citizens. Legal immigrants shouldn't even count. There should be no political advantage at all of any kind related to immigration and the number of representatives any state has in the US House of Representatives.

You are absolutely right Judy!