ALWAYS BET ON THE dEEP sTATE:

Judge Jesse M. Furman of the Southern District of New York found that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross violated federal law by misleading the public -- and his own department -- about the reasons for adding the question, which would have forced everyone taking the census to answer whether or not they and others in their household are US citizens. [...]

The Trump administration claimed it needed better citizenship data to enforce the Voting Rights Act and that the Department of Justice had asked Ross to add a citizenship question to the census for this reason. But emails and records uncovered as part of the lawsuit showed that Ross had been asking his staffers and other agencies to find reasons to add a citizenship question months before he received a letter from DOJ.

Furman also declared that Ross's decision violated the federal Administrative Procedure Act, which governs how federal agencies make regulations and other decisions. Ross had ignored and in some cases lied about evidence from his own officials that found asking people about citizenship would decrease participation and increase cost. The ruling also finds that Ross and the Department of Commerce violated two specific provisions in the federal Census Act -- one that seeks to limit the number of questions people are asked directly in the census and one regarding reports to Congress as the census is being planned.

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