The Supreme Court agreed today to submit the case on the inclusion of a question about citizenship in the 2020 census, as the Justice Department defends, something that has been seen by civil rights activists as an attack against immigrants.
A month ago, a federal judge in New York rejected the proposal of the government of US President Donald Trump, deciding that “legal violations” were committed by including the question of citizenship in the questions of the national census.
With this, the case went to the highest judicial instance, which has agreed to submit it for consideration.
The injunction is part of a case opened by a lawsuit filed by New York and other states, cities and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) against the Department of Commerce, which is in charge of the census.
The plaintiffs claim that the question is an attack on the rights of the voters, regardless of whether or not they have the status of a US citizen, and is a first step to intimidate and undermine the opportunities of those who do not.
On the other hand, the Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, has argued that the consultation is necessary to guarantee in an appropriate way the civil rights of the citizens.
The elaboration of the census, in a country where it is estimated that they live around 11 million undocumented immigrants, is usually done without asking the legal status of the respondents or whether they are citizens or residents.
The Government’s intention to include a question on nationality had unleashed the fear of the immigrant community that the information could be sent to the immigration authorities that have the power to repatriate them to their countries of origin.
The federal judge in New York agreed with the critics of the initiative, saying that “hundreds of thousands of people, even millions, will not be counted in the census if the question about citizenship is included.” (EFEUSA) .-
