A district judge ruled Friday that the Trump administration's attempt to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census is illegal, the third time a member of the judiciary has handed down such a ruling.
According to The Hill, Judge George Hazel of the District Court of Maryland said the inclusion of the question, which came from the office of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, is arbitrary and capricious.
"There is a substantial risk that the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census will lead to a differential undercount of Hispanics and/or noncitizens," Hazel wrote.
The Trump administration has been trying to add the question for months, on the basis that it would help the Department of Justice enforce the Voting Rights Act. The White House said last year that the question was not designed to target illegal immigrants living in the United States.
An expert who oversaw the 2000 census said a year ago that asking people about their citizenship status could result in more than 24 million non-responses.
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