On Friday, a third U.S. district judge ruled that the Trump administration’s plan to insert a citizenship question in the 2o2o Census is unconstitutional. A citizenship question would hurt Asian American communities by using intimidation tactics to  suppress participation from minority households–which is exactly what Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and the Trump administration want to do.

A U.S. district judge in Maryland blocked a citizenship question being added to the Census because it prevents the government from doing its constitutional duty to count every person living in the U.S.

NPR: “‘The unreasonableness of Defendants’ addition of a citizenship question to the Census is underscored by the lack of any genuine need for the citizenship question, the woefully deficient process that led to it, the mysterious and potentially improper political considerations that motivated the decision and the clear pretext offered to the public,’ wrote U.S. District Judge George Hazel of Maryland in a 119-page opinion released Friday…[T]he judge also found that including the question would be unconstitutional because, at a time of increased immigration enforcement and anti-immigrant rhetoric, it hinders the government’s ability to count every person living in the U.S. once a decade as the Constitution requires.”

The Census is important for Asian American communities, many of which rely on programs whose funding is based on the census population count.

NBC: “Ichinose said Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in places like Iowa and Nebraska struggle with visibility, not only with state and local government programs, but also with local philanthropy. An accurate census is thus essential to rendering a full picture of these populations. ‘If these data aren’t available to help demonstrate the growing size of these communities, then they’re really likely to miss out on funding that would be really important in serving these communities,’ Ichinose said.”