The 2020 Census has been surrounded by controversy, much of it over the Trump administration’s changes to how undocumented immigrants are counted, which continues even as the census draws to a close, CNN reports.
President Donald Trump ordered earlier this year that the 2020 Census will not count undocumented immigrants when it comes to the number of people that are used to divide congressional districts.
"I think this administration is intent on sabotaging what up until now had been non-partisan professional arms of the government," said Dale Ho, an attorney who represents various groups involved in census lawsuits, including the American Civil Liberties Union. "There should be nothing less partisan than arithmetic."
The census will hit its deadline on September 30, a month earlier than the date proposed by the Trump administration in response to the coronavirus pandemic. A federal judge recently issued a temporary restraining order stopping the Census Bureau from "winding down or altering any Census field operations."
The judge noted in the order that groups suing the government argue "that each day that the Census does not conduct its field operations to reach and count hard to reach populations increases the inaccuracy of the Census count and thus increases their irreparable harm."
The Census Bureau did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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