Following the administration’s decision to drop the question of citizenship from the 2020 census, President Donald Trump responded that it was “a very sad time for America.”
“A very sad time for America when the Supreme Court of the United States won’t allow a question of ‘Is this person a Citizen of the United States?’ to be asked on the #2020 Census! Going on for a long time,” Trump tweeted.
The President also said that he asked Departments of Justice and Commerce “to do whatever is necessary” in order to find a “successful conclusion” to the issue. Officials, however, had already announced that the citizenship question will not be part of next year’s census.
The administration said earlier Tuesday that it would allow the printing of census materials to go forward just days after the Supreme Court ruled against the question’s inclusion, citing an inadequate explanation from the Commerce Department, The Hill reported.
The decision had essentially ended speculation that Trump might try and delay the decennial census, an idea he floated after the high court’s ruling.
“We can confirm that the decision has been made to print the 2020 Decennial Census questionnaire without a citizenship question, and that the printer has been instructed to begin the printing process,” Justice Department attorney Kate Bailey wrote in an email sent to groups challenging the question, a copy of which was obtained by The Hill.
The announcement marked a significant defeat for Trump, who had said the question was essential to determine who was living legally and illegally in the U.S., even though it did not ask about immigration status.
It was a major victory for progressive and civil liberties groups, who said that including the question would result in an undercount of the U.S. population. They argued that including the question would strike fear in immigrant communities and discourage them from participating in the census.
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