We all know the Trump administration wants to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The Left’s reaction is “as expected,” with allegations that’s it’s discriminatory, despite it being included in the survey in the 1950s. It’s become another battle in the courts. Obama-appointed judges have blocked the initiative, while another federal judge refused to nix it on privacy grounds. It’ll be decided in the Supreme Court, but until then—another federal judge has blocked the Trump initiative, citing a violation of administrative law (via WaPo):
A federal judge in Maryland ruled Friday against the government’s addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, the third decision against the Trump administration on the issue.
Judge George J. Hazel, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Greenbelt, found that the government violated administrative law when it decided to add the question last year. The ruling, like two earlier ones, will likely be appealed to the Supreme Court.
In his ruling, Hazel wrote, “The unreasonableness of Defendants’ addition of a citizenship question to the Census is underscored by the lack of any genuine need for the citizenship question, the woefully deficient process that led to it, the mysterious and potentially improper political considerations that motivated the decision and the clear pretext offered to the public.”
Hazel did not find enough evidence to support plaintiffs’ claims that the government intended to discriminate against immigrants, Latinos and Asian Americans by adding the question, or that adding the question was part of a conspiracy within the Trump administration to violate the constitutional rights of noncitizens and people of color.
The Commerce Department declined to comment, and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The executive order of immigration, rolling back the constitutionally questionable DACA program, enforcing our immigration laws etc. this is just another legal battle this White House has had to fight. It’s getting tiring.
