By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services via Arizona Capitol Times
With no action by the governor or attorney general, two Arizona residents filed suit Wednesday to block the Census Bureau from adding a citizenship question to the decennial count.
Richard McCune of Nogales and Jose Moreno of Somerton joined with several Maryland residents to ask U.S. District Judge George Hazel to declare that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross acted illegally in requiring that all residents answer the question, one that has not been asked since the 1950 census. Attorney Shankar Duraiswamy charges that Ross’ decision is “arbitrary and capricious.” Duraiswamy said all the evidence gathered by the federal agency clearly shows there will be an undercount, not only of those who are not in this country illegally, but also of minority groups who are likely suspicious of government counters.
More to the point, the plaintiffs charge this is a violation of constitutional provision that says the whole purpose of the count is solely to determine the number of people in the country.
But the issue, they say, is more than academic. They cite actual financial and political losses likely to befall Arizona and its residents because the state has a higher percentage of groups that will not respond to census takers.
