Supreme Court To Decide Whether 2020 Census Will Include Citizenship Question

The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether the Trump administration can add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. The decision grants the administration's request for an immediate review of a lower court's ruling that stopped plans for the question. A hearing is expected to be held in April.

The question asks, "Is this person a citizen of the United States?"

The Trump administration is locked in a legal battle with dozens of states, cities and other groups that do not want the question to appear on forms for the constitutionally mandated head count of every person living in the U.S.

The Census Bureau has not asked all households about U.S. citizenship status in close to 70 years, although a sample of households have encountered a citizenship question on a smaller Census Bureau survey now known as the American Community Survey ...

That could lead to an undercount of immigrants and communities of color, which would have major implications for the way political power and federal funding are shared over the next decade ...

Population counts from the census determine how many congressional seats and Electoral College votes each state receives. They also guide the distribution of an estimated $880 billion a year in federal tax dollars to states and local communities for Medicare, schools and other public services ...