New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says he will lead a multi-state lawsuit against the Trump administration for adding a question on citizenship to the 2020 Census.
The U.S. Commerce Department announced the change Monday night, saying that it’s a way to enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, and would protect minorities.
Schneiderman, in a video released announcing the suit, disagrees. “This would scare people away from the census. We know it would result in undercounts. It would result in injustice. It’s unconstitutional, it’s unlawful, and it’s just plain unfair. So I’ll be in court, with a multi-state coalition of colleagues from around the country, to stop this.”
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says the Constitution calls for an accurate count. “You know the Census is enshrined in our Constitution, it said that everyone needs to be counted, slaves in those days they gave them three-fifths, so this question should not be there. I think it’s probably unconstitutional and I bet the courts will throw it out.”
Schneiderman says this will hit New York hard, as it threatens federal funding and fair representation in Congress and in the Electoral College. California has also announced it will sue.
