From Keystone Counts (https://www.keystonecounts.org/):
Recently, a federal judge in Maryland ruled that the proposed citizenship question for the 2020 was both unconstitutional and illegal under federal law. This marks the third time a federal district judge has struck down the question. A judge in New York previously held that the question violated federal law, and a judge in California found it unconstitutional. The New York and California cases have been consolidated and will be heard by the Supreme Court on April 23, with a decision expected by the end of June. Today’s decision is unlikely to impact the Supreme Court case, as it does not contain any conclusions of law that differ from the New York and California cases.
If the citizenship question is included in the Census, it will have a chilling effect on responses from immigrant communities. The Census Bureau has been preparing for the 2020 Census for over seven years, and they have done qualitative research that shows an “unprecedented” level of concern about the confidentiality of data provided to the Bureau and whether it would be shared with any other government agency.
According to four former Census Directors, who served in both Republican and Democratic administrations, asking about citizenship status would “lead to inaccurate responses,” and “the sum effect would be bad Census data,” that would leave public, private, and nonprofit decision makers with bad information. There are no do-overs with the Census, and if the count is inaccurate, the Pennsylvania will have to deal with the consequences for ten years.
We at Keystone Counts will continue to keep you updated as these cases develop, and be sure to check our Newsroom regularly for all the latest updates on the 2020 Census.
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