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Federal Judge Allows Lawsuit Against Census Citizenship Question to Go Forward

"By demanding the citizenship status of each resident, the Trump administration is breaking with decades of policy and potentially causing a major undercount that would threaten billions in federal funds," New York's Attorney General said

A federal judge on Tuesday allowed a lawsuit challenging a new citizenship question on the census to go forward, NBC News reported

In ruling on the legal action against the U.S. Commerce Department, a New York City judge said there was strong evidence that the citizenship question in the next census had been added in bad faith. Judge Jesse Furman of the Southern District of New York ruled that the Trump administration will be required to provide more information as to how it came to the decision to add the question to the 2020 census.

The lawsuit was filed earlier this year by a group of 17 states, Washington, D.C., and six cities, led by New York. They cited a concern that fewer immigrants will respond to the survey and therefore decrease the accuracy of the 2020 census, which determines funding allocation and how political districts are drawn.

"By demanding the citizenship status of each resident, the Trump administration is breaking with decades of policy and potentially causing a major undercount that would threaten billions in federal funds and New York’s fair representation in Congress and the Electoral College," New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood said in a statement.

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