This morning, the U.S. Supreme court ruled against adding a citizenship question in the 2020 census. This was an issue that caused ongoing debate about the implications of adding the question, with at least six lawsuits challenging the legality of the citizenship question and many Latino organizations taking a strong stand against it. One of the main concerns was that the question would discourage participation, which could’ve resulted in an inaccurate count. With a vote of 5-4 majority, Chief Justice John Roberts concluded that there was reason for concern about why the Commerce Department wanted to include the question.
“If judicial review is to be more than an empty ritual, it must demand something better than the explanation offered for the action taken in this case,” Roberts said.
“Today we are vindicated in our struggle to ensure our communities are fully counted,” said Javier H. Valdés, Co-Executive Director of Make the Road New York said in a statement in response to the decision. “The court’s ruling earffirms what we have known from the start: the Trump administration’s attemps to add a citizenship question had nothing to do with voting rights and was instead a reckless effort to deny immigrants and communities of color the schools, hospitals and vital services they need to survive,” he added.
Many other immigrant rights organizations, leaders and activists, as well as presidential candidates, took to Twitter to express their thoughts.
BREAKING: In our case, the Supreme Court has struck the citizenship question from the 2020 census.
The Trump administration’s attempt to politicize and manipulate this fundamental pillar of our democracy has failed.
Our communities will be counted.
— ACLU (@ACLU) June 27, 2019
? CENSUS UPDATE: VICTORY! #SCOTUS blocks the citizenship question, and calls on the Trump administration to justify why they want to add the question. #WeCount
— United We Dream (@UNITEDWEDREAM) June 27, 2019
This is a victory for:
— democracy
— immigrants and communities of color
— our amazing clients, including @thenyic and @MaketheRoadNY
— rule of law
— accountable government
— truth https://t.co/n1PYjjQwCy— Jonathan Topaz (@JonathanTopaz) June 27, 2019
Trump’s effort to add a citizenship question to the Census was designed to increase fear and decrease democratic participation among our communities.
Glad the Supreme Court didn't buy it.
We cannot let them win— #WeCount, and our voices will be heard in our democracy. ??
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) June 27, 2019
WE WON: SCOTUS blocks citizenship question on the census and remands case back to NY district court.
— Vanita Gupta (@vanitaguptaCR) June 27, 2019
Trump lied about his motivations, and five justices called him on it. His proposal to add a citizenship question to the census was nothing but a racist attempt to disenfranchise communities of color. https://t.co/OPZfQbpgNK
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) June 27, 2019
Yes we celebrate that the #Census2020 #CitizenshipQuestion is out for now. But the damage done to the trust in the Census may not be reversible without intervention from people the target populations still trust.
— Alexis R. (@AppDemography) June 27, 2019
