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 5 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

Ex-Correctional Officer at Women’s Prison in California Sentenced for Sexually Abusing Inmates

DON'T MISS

Caitlin Clark and Iowa Draw Nearly 5 Million Viewers for Second-Round NCAA Win

DON'T MISS

Canadian School Boards Sue Snapchat, TikTok and Meta for Disrupting Students’ Education

DON'T MISS

California Law Enforcement Agencies Obstruct Transparency Efforts in Use-of-Force Cases

DON'T MISS

No Police Charges for Taylor Swift’s Dad Over Paparazzi Incident in Sydney

DON'T MISS

Biden Administration to Lend $1.5B to Restart Michigan Nuclear Power Plant, a First in the US

DON'T MISS

Tonight’s Biden Fundraiser With Obama and Clinton Already Nets a Record $25 Million

DON'T MISS

Ukrainian Navy Says a Third of Russian Warships in the Black Sea Have Been Destroyed or Disabled

DON'T MISS

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ VP Pick in 2000, Dead at 82

DON'T MISS

Trump Criticizes Judge and His Daughter After Gag Order in Hush-Money Case

No data was found

Facebook News Tab Will Soon Be Unavailable as Meta Scales Back News and Political Content

15 hours ago

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Rises to More Records to Close Out Its Latest Winning Month

15 hours ago

A Fresno County First: Kerman Council Passes Amended Gaza Cease-Fire Resolution

15 hours ago

UN Top Court Orders Israel to Open More Land Crossings for Aid into Gaza

15 hours ago

How Involved Is Southern California Consulting Firm in FUSD Executive Dealings?

15 hours ago

Biden’s Fundraiser with Obama and Clinton Nets a Record $25 Million, His Campaign Says

16 hours ago

Fresno Unified’s Self-Protection Racket Is Hurting Our Kids

16 hours ago

Rockin’ Out or Laughing, the Valley Has Its Pick of Weekend Events

17 hours ago

Ex-Correctional Officer at Women’s Prison in California Sentenced for Sexually Abusing Inmates

19 hours ago

Caitlin Clark and Iowa Draw Nearly 5 Million Viewers for Second-Round NCAA Win

19 hours ago

PGA HOPE at Riverside Golf Course Introduces Military Veterans to the Game

PGA HOPE, now underway at Fresno’s Riverside Golf Course, is designed to introduce golf to veterans and active duty military members t...

13 hours ago

PGA HOPE at Fresno's Riverside Golf Course
13 hours ago

PGA HOPE at Riverside Golf Course Introduces Military Veterans to the Game

14 hours ago

Cronenworth’s Big Hit Helps Lift the Padres to a 6-4 Win Over Melvin’s Giants

14 hours ago

Shohei Ohtani Reaches 3 Times in Home Debut as the Dodgers Rout the Cardinals 7-1

15 hours ago

Facebook News Tab Will Soon Be Unavailable as Meta Scales Back News and Political Content

15 hours ago

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Rises to More Records to Close Out Its Latest Winning Month

15 hours ago

A Fresno County First: Kerman Council Passes Amended Gaza Cease-Fire Resolution

15 hours ago

UN Top Court Orders Israel to Open More Land Crossings for Aid into Gaza

15 hours ago

How Involved Is Southern California Consulting Firm in FUSD Executive Dealings?

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend