A federal judge has absurdly blocked the Trump administration from adding a basic citizenship question to next year’s census, at the request of the DOJ:
NY POST – A Manhattan federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from adding a question about citizenship in the 2020 census, saying an attempt to do so by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross was “unlawful for a multitude of independent reasons.”
Judge Jesse Furman said Ross violated the Administrative Procedure Act in “several respects” when he decided last year to reinstate the question at the behest of the Justice Department.
“Secretary Ross violated the public trust,” Furman said in his 277-page ruling released Tuesday.
The Administrative Procedure Act “prohibits federal agencies from acting in a manner that is arbitrary and capricious or not in accordance with law,” Furman said.
“[Ross] failed to consider several important aspects of the problem; 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 — a veritable smorgasbord of classic, clear-cut APA violations,” the judge said.
Is there anything the Trump administration can do that wins in the lower courts? Geez.
And by the way, this judge is an Obama appointee in case you were wondering.
The actual citizenship question that has caused panic and alarm on the left is this:
In March, Ross ordered that the 2020 Decennial Census include the question, “Is this person a citizen of the United States?” for the first time since 1950.
What in the heck is wrong with putting that in the census? Don’t we have a right to know who is a citizen in this country and who is not? The question doesn’t even ascertain who is here legally or illegally, just who is a citizen and who is not.
Oh and just fyi, it’s only the first time since 1950 on the short form. The long census form sent to a smaller number of households has never omitted this question.
As you might imagine, the DOJ will fight the decision…
Federal officials defended the addition, claiming it would help enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by preventing racial discrimination and protecting “minority voting rights.”
The DOJ, which argued for the citizenship question at trial, issued a statement Tuesday suggesting that it will continue to fight for the change.
“Our government is legally entitled to include a citizenship question on the census and people in the United States have a legal obligation to answer,” spokeswoman Kelly Lack said. “Reinstating the citizenship question ultimately protects the right to vote and helps ensure free and fair elections for all Americans.”
“We are disappointed and are still reviewing the ruling,” she said.
You can bet they will soon be appealing the decision as they climb the judicial ladder to the Supreme Court.