U.S. starves 2020 census of funding, threatens undercount: NY lawsuit
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[November 27, 2019]
By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A new lawsuit in New
York accuses the Trump administration of starving the U.S. Census Bureau
of funding needed to avert an undercount of racial and ethnic minorities
in the 2020 census, and deprive them of crucial federal funds and
political representation.
The Brooklyn-based nonprofit Center for Popular Democracy Action and the
city of Newburgh, New York accused the government on Tuesday of
arbitrarily, capriciously and irrationally slashing resources to count
blacks, Hispanics, immigrants, the homeless and other members of
"hard-to-count" communities.
They hope to set aside decisions to hire one-third as many enumerators
who physically visit homes as in 2010, halve census field offices and
reduce community outreach, while ensuring that the government conduct
the "actual enumeration" required by the U.S. Constitution.
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"Defendants have been operating on the cheap," refusing even to tap more
than $1 billion left over from prior appropriations, CPD Action's and
Newburgh's complaint said. "Given the size and scope of the decennial
census, immediate relief is necessary."
The nonprofit represents workers, minorities and immigrants.
Census data are used to award billions of dollars of federal funds, as
well as political representation. Critics of undercounting believe many
hard-to-count communities are in areas more likely to vote for
Democrats.
The Census Bureau is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, which
declined to comment on the lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Census Bureau chief Steven Dillingham
are also defendants.
Tuesday's lawsuit came four weeks after the federal appeals court in
Richmond, Virginia, heard arguments on whether to revive a similar
lawsuit by the NAACP and Prince George's County, Maryland.
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U.S. Census pamphlets and paperwork are pictured in this photo
illustration in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York,
U.S., July 15, 2019. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
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A lower court judge dismissed that case in August, saying Congress'
current $3.55 billion census appropriation mooted the plaintiffs'
funding claim.
Both sets of plaintiffs are represented by students from Yale Law
School's Peter Gruber Rule of Law Clinic.
Undercounting causes "irreparable harm," Lisa Chen, one of the
students, said in an interview. "We are focused on having the bureau
spend money that has already been appropriated."
The lawsuit followed Republican President Donald Trump's July 11
abandonment of his quest for a citizenship question on the census.
Critics said the question would have helped Republicans by lowering
responses in Democratic-leaning areas.
House of Representatives Democrats on Tuesday sued Ross and U.S.
Attorney General William Barr to enforce subpoenas related to an
investigation of the citizenship question.
Newburgh is 65 miles (105 km) north of New York City, and has many
black, Hispanic and undocumented people among its roughly 28,000
population. Its 57% response rate in the 2010 census was among the
lowest in New York state.
The case is Center for Popular Democracy Action et al v Bureau of
the Census et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New
York, No. 19-10917.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Jonathan
Oatis)
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