Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Trump Insists He's Still Pushing Citizenship Question on Census
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
July 3, 2019

Share

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump insisted Wednesday he is not dropping efforts to include a citizenship question on the upcoming 2020 census, even as the U.S. Census Bureau has started the process of printing the questionnaire without it.

“News Reports about the Department of Commerce dropping its quest to put the Citizenship Question on the Census is incorrect or, to state it differently, FAKE! We are absolutely moving forward.” — President Donald Trump
“News Reports about the Department of Commerce dropping its quest to put the Citizenship Question on the Census is incorrect or, to state it differently, FAKE!” Trump said in a tweet. “We are absolutely moving forward.”
The White House did not immediately respond to questions about what he meant.
Trump’s tweet directly contradicted comments made less than 24 hours earlier by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Justice Department lawyers that they were standing down, following a Supreme Court decision halting the question.
“The Census Bureau has started the process of printing the decennial questionnaires without the question,” Ross said in a statement Tuesday. “My focus, and that of the Bureau and the entire Department is to conduct a complete and accurate census.”

Trump’s Comment Unlikely to Affect Work on Census

Justice Department lawyers also notified parties in lawsuits challenging the question, and at least one federal judge who blocked its inclusion, that the company with a $114 million contract to print census questionnaires had been instructed to start printing forms without the citizenship question.
In the short term, Trump’s comment is unlikely to affect work on the census.
But U.S. District Judge George Hazel has ordered Justice Department lawyers to file a written stipulation with him by Monday that the government is no longer seeking to put the question on the 2020 census, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund lawyer Denise Hulett said. Hulett participated in a conference call Tuesday with the judge and lawyers for both sides in the census citizenship case.
Hazel is one of three judges who refused to allow the administration to ask everyone about their citizenship status in next year’s census. The other judges are in New York and California.
Hazel is considering reopening the case after the civil rights groups who filed the Maryland lawsuit produced evidence from the computer files of a Republican redistricting consultant who died last year that they shows that discrimination against Hispanics was behind the push for the citizenship question. It’s unclear whether Trump’s comment would affect Hazel’s decision.

Trump: Supreme Court Ruling a ‘Very Sad Time for America’

Opponents of the citizenship question said it would discourage participation by immigrants and people who are in the country illegally, resulting in inaccurate figures for a count that determines the distribution of some $675 billion in federal spending and how many congressional districts each state gets.
The administration had said the question was being added to aid in enforcement of the Voting Rights Act, which protects minority voters’ access to the ballot box. But in the Supreme Court’s decision last week, Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court’s four more liberal members in saying the administration’s current justification for the question “seems to have been contrived.”


For months, the administration had argued that the courts needed to decide quickly whether the citizenship question could be added because of the deadline to starting printing materials this week.
On Twitter Tuesday night, Trump wrote that the Supreme Court ruling marked a “very sad time for America.” He also said he had asked the Commerce and Justice departments “to do whatever is necessary to bring this most vital of questions, and this very important case, to a successful conclusion.” He did not elaborate.
Even though the Census Bureau is relying on most respondents to answer the questionnaire by internet next year, hundreds of millions of printed postcards and letters will be sent out next March reminding residents about the census, and those who don’t respond digitally will be mailed paper questionnaires.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Man Killed in Head-On Collision Identified

DON'T MISS

California Allocates $56 Million to Combat Youth Homelessness

DON'T MISS

Let the Hunt for Fresno County Fruit Trail Delights Begin!

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect in Southwest Shooting Through Valley Crime Stoppers’ Tip

DON'T MISS

18 Injured in Knife Attack in Hamburg, Report Says

DON'T MISS

White House National Security Council Hit by More Firings, Sources Say

DON'T MISS

All Six People Aboard Plane That Crashed in San Diego Confirmed Dead

DON'T MISS

Explore the Wild Side of Route 66 With These Natural Wonders

DON'T MISS

Billy Joel Cancels Touring After Being Diagnosed With a Brain Disorder

DON'T MISS

Justice Department Reaches Deal to Allow Boeing to Avoid Prosecution Over 737 Max Crashes

UP NEXT

Justice Department Reaches Deal to Allow Boeing to Avoid Prosecution Over 737 Max Crashes

UP NEXT

Low-Income Compton Students Get $225M State-of-the-Art High School Campus

UP NEXT

Everyone Now Has an Opinion on Jake Tapper

UP NEXT

Braves Star Ronald Acuña Jr. to Return Friday From Left Knee Injury

UP NEXT

At Least 60 People Killed by Israeli Strikes in Gaza as Israel Lets Minimal Aid In

UP NEXT

US and Iran Try to Bridge Chasm on Nuclear Enrichment

UP NEXT

Dave Shapiro, Groundbreaking Music Executive, Dies in San Diego Plane Crash at 42

UP NEXT

Gaza Health System at Breaking Point as Israeli Hostilities Intensify, WHO Says

UP NEXT

Israeli Politician’s Criticism of Gaza War Toll on Palestinians Sparks Outcry

UP NEXT

CA State Senator Cited for Suspicion of Impaired Driving, Says She Wasn’t Intoxicated

9 of a Doctor’s 10 Children Are Killed in Israel’s Latest Strikes in Gaza

6 hours ago

Daisy Can’t See or Hear, but She Knows How to Love

11 hours ago

How to Travel Without a Phone

12 hours ago

Chukchansi Casino Hosts Job Fair to Fill 80 Food and Beverage Positions

12 hours ago

California’s High Living Costs and Rampant Poverty Sharpen Its Economic Divide

12 hours ago

Fresno County Man Killed in Head-On Collision Identified

1 day ago

California Allocates $56 Million to Combat Youth Homelessness

1 day ago

Let the Hunt for Fresno County Fruit Trail Delights Begin!

1 day ago

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect in Southwest Shooting Through Valley Crime Stoppers’ Tip

1 day ago

18 Injured in Knife Attack in Hamburg, Report Says

1 day ago

Clovis Memorial Run Brings the Community Together, Supports Senior Programs

The annual Clovis Memorial Run brought runners and walkers to the new Clovis Senior Activity Center on May 24, featuring multiple races that...

5 minutes ago

5 minutes ago

Clovis Memorial Run Brings the Community Together, Supports Senior Programs

5 hours ago

Attorney Error Lowers Fees in Fresno Measure P Case

5 hours ago

Trump Gives Commencement Address at West Point, Stressing a New Era

6 hours ago

9 of a Doctor’s 10 Children Are Killed in Israel’s Latest Strikes in Gaza

Blind and deaf, Daisy is a gentle senior pup who has blossomed in foster care and is now searching for a loving home. (Mell's Mutts)
11 hours ago

Daisy Can’t See or Hear, but She Knows How to Love

12 hours ago

How to Travel Without a Phone

12 hours ago

Chukchansi Casino Hosts Job Fair to Fill 80 Food and Beverage Positions

California Wealth and Poverty
12 hours ago

California’s High Living Costs and Rampant Poverty Sharpen Its Economic Divide

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend