FRESNO, CA (KMJ) – California files a lawsuit after the Trump Administration adds a citizenship question on the 2020 Census.
On Tuesday, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and California’s Secretary of State Alex Padilla held a news conference in Sacramento to announce the lawsuit.
Becerra says the question is “not just a bad idea — it is illegal.”
Late Monday, the Trump Administration decided to ask about citizenship when the census is taken in 2020.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross (above) says it “is necessary to provide complete and accurate census block level data.”
Ross says, “neither the Census Bureau nor the concerned stakeholders could document that the response rate would in fact decline materially.”
Responding on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders (above) said, “we’ve contained this question that’s provided data that’s necessary for the Department of Justice to protect voters, specifically to help us better comply with the Voter Rights Act.”
Attorney General Becerra says it could cause undercounts — in communities with large immigrant populations — which could cost states like California seats in Congress, population-based federal funding and electoral college votes in presidential elections.
Becerra later tweeted, “During World War II, the federal govt. used #Census data to identify Japanese-American families for internment. But the #Trump Administration has failed to learn again from history. They’ve failed to learn the consequences of scaring people… #2020Census.”
Secretary of State Alex Padilla said, “immigrants are embedded in the very fabric of this state, California counts on immigrants and in the 202 census we will make sure immigrants are counted not intimidated.”
By Tuesday afternoon, news came that several other states are teaming up to file suit over the Trump administration’s decision.
Click below to listen to the report by KMJ’s Liz Kern:
