In its ruling, the Court said \u201cit cannot ignore the disconnect between the decision made and the explanation given\u201d by the administration of President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Writing for a 5-4 majority, Chief Justice John Roberts\nconcluded that there was sufficient reason for concern about why the Commerce\nDepartment wanted to add the question. Roberts had the support of the four\nliberal justices.<\/p>\n\n\n
The case partially upheld a January ruling from the Southern District of New York. The ruling, in that case, said the Trump administration\u2019s decision to add a citizenship question to the census violated U.S. law by being \u201carbitrary and capricious,\u201d because the administration\u2019s reasoning for adding the question \u2014 to help enforce the Voting Rights Act \u2014 was presented during the trial as an after-the-fact rationalization.<\/p>\n\n\n
The bitter controversy centers around whether the Trump\nadministration can ask all recipients a citizenship question on the 2020 census\nfor the first time since 1950. <\/p>\n\n\n
The administration claimed the citizenship question on the census questionnaire is necessary to better comply with federal voting rights law. <\/p>\n\n\n
CT Mirror<\/a> reports, Connecticut was one of 18 blue states to sue the Commerce Department last year after its secretary, Wilbur Ross, insisted on the inclusion of a citizenship question, ostensibly as necessary to help the Department of Justice enforce the Voting Rights Act. <\/p>\n\n\n Critics argued it is an attempt to intimidate noncitizens and Hispanic households and will lead to a decline in response rates and underrepresentation of minorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMake no mistake: the damage has already been done.\u201d <\/p>Susan Bysiewicz, Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n \u201cThe Trump administration has created a climate of fear throughout our country through tactics of intimidation, threats of ICE raids and treatment of immigrants at our border and across our country,” Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said. <\/p>\n\n\n About 540,000<\/a> Hispanics\/Latinos reside in Connecticut; the <\/a>18th largest Hispanic population in the nation. Undocumented immigrants make up 24 percent of the immigrant population in the state, approximately 120,000<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n Data obtained from the 2020 census is used for the allocation of\ncongressional seats and the distribution of billions of federal dollars to\nstates and localities over the next decade.<\/p>\n\n\n Roberts said the explanation for adding the question wasn\u2019t\nsufficient.<\/p>\n\n\n “The sole stated reason — seems to have been contrived. We\nare presented, in other words, with an explanation for agency action that is\nincongruent with what the record reveals about the agency’s priorities and\ndecision-making process,” Roberts wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n Speaking on the steps of the Connecticut Supreme Court Thursday, elected officials (Democrats) praised the decision by Chief Justice Roberts. \u201cWe don\u2019t often agree with the chief justice,\u201d Attorney General William Tong said. \u201cBut the chief justice is serving his institutional role,\u201d Tong continued, describing Roberts as building a consensus in a divided court. <\/p>\n\n\n \u201cThe Supreme Court today saw through a cynical and unfair attempt to influence the census for political advantage,” Governor Ned Lamont reacted in a statement. <\/p>\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nSUGGESTION: Connecticut\u2019s cities cannot afford an undercount of undocumented immigrants <\/h4>\n\n\n
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