A US federal judge on Tuesday said that US President Donald Trump’s administration could not add a question about citizenship in the 2020 census — a victory for liberals and rights groups, although the matter is expected to end up in the US Supreme Court.
Several US states and cities, and civil rights groups, have filed seven complaints opposing the move, calling it an effort by the administration to scare immigrants into not responding.
If non-citizens avoid census takers for fear of running afoul of immigration authorities, the states where they live could lose federal funding — and possibly seats in the US Congress.
The ruling by federal District Judge Jesse Furman was the first ruling in those cases.
The judge said that Ross, whose department oversees the national census, “failed to consider several important aspects of the problem.”
Ross “alternately ignored, cherry-picked or badly misconstrued the evidence in the record before him; acted irrationally both in light of that evidence and his own stated decisional criteria; and failed to justify significant departures from past policies and practices,” the ruling said.
A “disappointed” US Department of Justice voiced dismay, saying that Ross had “reasonably decided to reinstate a citizenship question on the 2020 census” to collect more accurate data.
A citizenship question has not been part of the census — which is carried out once each decade — for 60 years.
Census results determine the number of seats each state has in the US House of Representatives, and how more than US$675 billion in federal funds is to be allocated to states.
There are an estimated 10.7 million undocumented people living in the US. The country as a whole has more than 330 million people.
Since most non-citizens reside in states with Democratic majorities, opponents of the citizenship question say the Trump administration is trying to curtail Democratic representation in the US Congress.
Furman said the government could conduct “tests” on adding the citizenship question, and the Supreme Court could disagree with his ruling and ultimately allow the question on the census.
A government appeal is seen as likely.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in