The U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision Thursday on the controversial proposed inclusion of the question, “Is this person a citizen of the United States?” on the upcoming 2020 census. The decision, while not definitive, will likely prevent the question’s inclusion in the census. Local politicians feared that the question could lead to an undercount of Latino Texans, leading to millions of lost federal dollars for the region and an estimated $300 million lost for Texas. Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt and Austin Mayor Steve Adler, co-chairs of the Austin-Travis County Complete Count Committee, released a statement on the ruling, which read in part:
“We are encouraged by today’s Supreme Court of the United States ruling. Having unburdened the census from the repressive citizenship question, the City of Austin and Travis County can move forward with working to obtain as accurate a count as possible, resulting in additional federal funding for our region, and accurate representation during the redistricting process. Citizenship information cannot be used for any other purpose and cannot be shared with any other agency or individual.”
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has threatened to delay the census to ensure the inclusion of the question.
Seems totally ridiculous that our government, and indeed Country, cannot ask a basic question of Citizenship in a very expensive, detailed and important Census, in this case for 2020. I have asked the lawyers if they can delay the Census, no matter how long, until the…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2019