President Trump drops census citizenship question

WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Trump is abandoning his push to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census.

At a Rose Garden ceremony, President Trump said the administration will instead compile citizenship data with information already on hand, arguing it’s “imperative” for good public policy.

He’s ordering every federal agency to provide the Commerce Department with documents to help determine the number of citizens and non-citizens alike.

He said there will be “no stone unturned” in scouring information to determine the breakdown.

Trump argued the Supreme Court confirmed that with an adequate explanation of the reasoning, the administration does have the right to include a census citizenship question. But he says more litigation would lead to considerable time delays.
“We will defend the right of the American people to know the full facts about the population size of citizens and non-citizens in America,” the president said. “It is essential that we have a clear breakdown of the number of citizens and non-citizens that make up the US population… imperative. Knowing this information is vital to formulating sound public policy.

The ACLU celebrated the move, claiming President Trump’s citizenship question effort has ended with “a whimper.”

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