By: Jane Perkins
Executive Summary
An array of advocacy groups filed an amicus brief in California v. Ross, siding with Calif. Attorney General Xavier Becrra’s lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Commerce’s decision to add a “citizenship” question to the 2020 census. The brief led by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Muslim Advocates, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, the Brennan Center for Justice, and National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, argues against the Trump administration’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The groups’ brief states that including the “citizenship question will inevitably lead to a differential undercount of historically under-represented communities. This inevitable undercount will lead to a loss of federal funding for plaintiffs and the jurisdictions they encompass.” National Health Law Program was among the many grassroots, health care, labor and educational organizations that also signed the amicus brief.
