Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and City Attorney Pete Holmes announced that the City of Seattle has joined a coalition of states and cities in a lawsuit to block the Trump administration from demanding citizenship information in the 2020 decennial Census and preserve a fair and accurate count. Seattle joins a coalition of 18 Attorneys General, six cities, and the bipartisan U.S. Conference of Mayors to hold the Trump Administration accountable for violating the Enumeration Clause of the United States Constitution.
“Donald Trump and his administration wants to take the Census back to the 1950s with an unreasonable, unjust and unconstitutional proposal. Our state and City are united in fighting against this attempt by the Trump administration to stifle democracy, strip our community of much-needed resources, and undercount communities of color and immigrants,” said Durkan. “In the last decade, Seattle’s population has skyrocketed, which is why it’s critical the upcoming Census provides accurate and fair representation. Without an accurate count, Seattle could lose billions of dollars of federal investments in housing, schools, and hospitals, and other critical federal resources.”
The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, was led by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and joined by the Attorneys General of New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia; the cities of New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Providence, San Francisco, and Seattle; and the bipartisan U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Under the Constitution, the Census Bureau has an obligation to determine “the whole number of persons in each state.” Yet demanding citizenship information in the Census is expected to depress participation among immigrants, causing a population undercount that would disproportionately harm states and cities with large immigrant communities. Non-citizens are counted in the Census for the purposes of federal funds, apportioning of congressional seats and Electoral College votes, and the drawing of state and local districts.
On December 12, 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice requested that the Census Bureau demand citizenship information in the 2020 census form sent to every household in the United States, even though the Census is supposed to count all persons—citizens and non-citizens alike. The lawsuit filed is brought under the Enumeration Clause of the U.S. Constitution, as this action by the Trump administration will impede an “actual Enumeration” required by the Constitution. It is also brought under the Administrative Procedure Act, which permits courts to set aside unlawful or arbitrary and capricious agency decisions. In 2009, all eight former Directors of the Census Bureau dating back to 1979 – who served under both Democratic and Republican presidents – affirmed that a citizenship question would depress participation and lead to a significant undercount, undermining the purpose of the Census itself.
According to officials, getting accurate Census counting is critical to Seattle’s budget. In 2015, Washington State received approximately $13.7 billion dollars from federal assistance programs based on decennial Census data. In terms of annual allocation, that amounts to significant funding per person for housing, education, health care, infrastructure, transportation projects and several other federally funded programs. Additionally, at stake for Seattle is how the base for the state population estimates are used to determine the allocation of about $200 million to counties and cities from the state general fund annually.
“We have a duty to represent all of the more than 700,000 people who live in Seattle, and without accurate data from the 2020 Census we cannot fulfill our responsibilities to adequately protect the health and safety of our community,” said Seattle City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda. “Seattle must lead the way forward and fight against any attempts to weaken the 2020 Census process, exacerbate distrust with the government, or harm our ability to serve our population’s needs.”
