Court orders Census to stop winding down its door-to-door efforts; lawsuit seeks to extend deadline

SAN MATEO COUNTY

AAPI in San Mateo County in Calif. seek an accurate Census of their communities.

The Census Bureau is immediately stopping the wind-down of its door-to-door counting efforts after a federal court ordered a temporary restraining order that will remain in effect while another court wrestles with another lawsuit seeking to extend the Sept. 30 deadline of the national tally.

The Trump administration must, for now, stop winding down in-person counting efforts for the 2020 census, a federal judge in California ordered Saturday.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in the Northern District of California issued a TRO Saturday (Sept. 5) as a result of a challenge led by the National Urban League. The TRO is expected to remain in effect until a court hearing is held on Sept. 17 for the plaintiffs' request for a court order that would require counting to continue through the end of October because of the coronavirus delayed the time table set out by the Census Bureau at the beginning.

"Today's ruling buys the census some precious and indispensable time by barring the administration from shutting down the count while the federal courts are still considering our request for relief," Thomas Wolf, a senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice. which is providing legal help to the community advocates challenging the early wind-down, said in a statement.

Koh's ruling is the latest stumbling block for the Trump administration which has taken several actions in an effort to delay the cultural impact of the demographic trend occurring in the country wherein Whites would no longer be the largest racial group by 2040. 

In the past Censuses, the AAPI community has been severely undercounted.

Another lawsuit in New York, joined by about two-dozen states, is challenging the Sept. 30 target for the Census to stop counting. Last Spring, the Trump administration agreed with community groups and the Census own report for an extension to at least Oct. 31 but the government and Census did a sudden reversal to abide by the original, pre-pandemic deadline of Sept. 30.

The New York case asking for a Census deadline extension is scehduled to be heard on Sept. 21.

By having an undercount of people of color and/or immigrants, Whites would retain their position of social and political dominance for at least another decade when another Census would be undertaken in 2030.

Asian American and Pacific Islander community groups -- Black and Hispanic groups, as well -- have been active in making sure that there is an accurate count of their communities. Data that comes out of the Census determines how trillions of government assistance is meted out to social and educational programs and infrastructure projects that need funding. 

It is no surprise that Republicans have been leading efforts to stymy an accurate count because POC tended to register as Democrats. The Census would also determine political representation from local school boards all the way up to Congress.

Members of Congress representing Blacks, Hispanic and AAPI are angry that the Census has been taking actions -- such as the early wind-down -- without notifying Congress. 

Leaders of the Congressional Tri-Caucus—composed of Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chair Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27), Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Rep. Joaquin Castro (TX-20), and Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Karen Bass (CA-37)—issued the following joint statement on the U.S. Census Bureau’s refusal to brief Tri-Caucus members or staff on the latest changes to the 2020 Census. 

“From our perspective, the Trump administration is doing everything in its power to decrease representation and reduce resources for people of color through an incomplete and inaccurate Census count. The administration has a constitutional obligation to complete an accurate count of the U.S. population — every single person living in America without exception.” 

“Earlier this spring, the Census Bureau asked Congress to delay the delivery of apportionment data to the President and redistricting data to the States by a combined 120 days due to the coronavirus crisis. However, after the appointment of new political officials, the U.S. Census Bureau has reversed course, reduced door-knocking by a month, and refused to brief Tri-Caucus members and staff who have been extremely concerned that these actions may result in an undercount for communities of color. This lack of transparency is unprecedented and unacceptable.” 

People can still fill out the Census form online by linking here:  2020census.gov

EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution, this is news sprinkled with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news sources to formulate their own positions.