Everyone Gave Up on the Citizenship Question Except Trump

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump contradicted pretty much everyone else in his administration by tweeting that the “news reports” about the 2020 Census being printed without a citizenship question are “incorrect or, to state it differently, FAKE!”

The reason there were “news reports” in the first place is because a Justice Department attorney confirmed that the printer of the 2020 Census was instructed to begin the census printing process without the anti-immigrant citizenship question that had would have negatively impacted the voting power of districts with high immigrant populations.

Opponents of the question argued that its inclusion would prevent some Latinx people from completing the census out of fear of giving away their or a family member’s undocumented status, thereby undercounting households and creating an inaccurate basis for budgeting federal food and education programs, housing programs, and other governmental services.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross conceded his loss on Tuesday, saying in a statement that he respected the Supreme Court but “strongly disagree with its ruling regarding my decision to reinstate a citizenship question on the 2020 Census.” He continued, saying that his “focus, and that of the bureau and the entire department, is to conduct a complete and accurate census.” Sounds like a white flag to me!

Trump’s census truther tweet came less than a day after his very solemn message about the imminent death of the citizenship question, in which he said he asked Commerce and Justice Departments for “a successful conclusion” to this legal battle over the question. Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that the administration’s reasoning for including the census question was inadequate.

It’s only a matter of time before the very unfair (right-wing) Supreme Court (which includes two of his own nominees) which stopped his great (racist) plan becomes a prominent feature of his re-election campaign. “USA!” indeed.