MN Joins California Suit Against Census Citizenship Question

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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota has joined a lawsuit filed by California's attorney general to block the Trump administration's decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census questionnaire.

California Attorney General Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed the federal lawsuit Tuesday. Minnesota and several other states have joined in, while officials in other states are contemplating their own lawsuits against the plan.

Democrats fear the question will lead immigrants to dodge the survey altogether, diluting political representation for states that tend to vote Democratic and robbing many communities of federal dollars. The administration says the data is needed to better identify voting rights violations.

On Thursday, a group of 21 Democratic Minnesota state representatives signed a letter thanking state Attorney General Lori Swanson for joining in California's lawsuit.