In a 277-page decision, Judge Jesse Furman blocked the Trump administration from including a citizenship question from the 2020 census, The Associated Press reports. Furman wrote that while such a question would be constitutional, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’ “arbitrary and capricious” actions violated the law, adding that Ross’ explanations for including the question were “unsupported by, or even counter to, the evidence before the agency.” The judge concluded that including the question would likely limit census participation in households with noncitizens by at least 5.8 percent. A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice said, “We are disappointed and are still reviewing the ruling.”
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