The Trump administration has announced that they are making a change to the 2020 census and Democrats are flipping out. The change is this: They are adding a citizenship status question to the census.
What’s the big deal? Doesn’t the country have a right to know how many citizens and non-citizens are in the country? You’d think so.
But former Obama AG Eric Holder says he’s going to sue:
Constitution does not require citizenship question. This is purely political. Trump Administration is trying to rig the 2020 Census (to protect gerrymandering) by intimidating people. Don’t be fooled-some states will unfairly lose funds and representation. We will sue. https://t.co/2R3mZ0FQSp
— Eric Holder (@EricHolder) March 27, 2018
California AG Xavier Becerra has already filed a lawsuit:
#BREAKING: Filing suit against @realdonaldtrump's Administration over decision to add #citizenship question on #2020Census. Including the question is not just a bad idea — it is illegal: https://t.co/vW8sa7khq9
— Archive - Attorney General Becerra (@AGBecerra) March 27, 2018
Here's the lawsuit we filed last night against @realdonaldtrump's #census2020 decision. #California simply has too much to lose for us to allow his Administration to botch this obligation! #citizenship pic.twitter.com/Kp1WWJ3jC8
— Archive - Attorney General Becerra (@AGBecerra) March 27, 2018
Pelosi just issued a statement this morning calling it disturbing and saying it violates the Constitution or something:
Pelosi: “The Trump Administration’s late night announcement of a new citizenship question violates the clear constitutional mandate to provide an accurate count of all people living in the United States.”
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 27, 2018
"This detrimental change will inject fear and distrust into vulnerable communities," House Minority Leader Pelosi on Trump admin. adding citizenship question to 2020 Census. pic.twitter.com/7KapcrqeYC
— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) March 27, 2018
It sounds like the Trump administration just hit a huge nerve. Good for them.
Remember, Democrats acted this exact same way – if not worse – when states begin requiring IDs to vote. Again, something that makes complete sense to people wanting to protect the system and not subvert it.
On the flip side, Republicans like Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton, and Jim Inhofe applaud the decision and say they are the ones who asked the Trump administration to make the change:
Yesterday, the Commerce Department announced that it would add a new question to the 2020 census asking respondents whether they were citizens of the United States. The news comes after U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), and Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) sent a letter to the Department asking it to add such a question and gather more accurate data on the number of U.S. citizens living in the country.
“I applaud Secretary Ross for honoring this request by my colleagues and me,” Sen. Cruz said. “It is imperative that the data gathered in the census is reliable, given the wide ranging impacts it will have on U.S. policy. A question on citizenship is a reasonable, commonsense addition to the census.”
“Counting the number of U.S. citizens in the country should be a high priority of the census, and the only way to get an accurate count is to add a question about citizenship to the census itself,” said Senator Cotton.
“Accurate census data that reflects the total number of U.S. citizens is a vital part of our democracy.” Inhofe said. “Without it, we can’t responsibly ensure equal representation for states in the House of Representatives or assess voter participation. I applaud the Census Bureau for adding this common-sense question.”
Exactly.