Los Angeles Sues Trump Administration For Cutting Census Deadline
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Los Angeles is joining other cities and national organizations in suing the Trump Administration for cutting down the time people have to respond to U.S. Census, City Attorney Mike Feuer announced Tuesday.
The Census Bureau delayed its operations because of the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic and extended the deadline to respond to Oct. 31. But the bureau changed course earlier this month and changed the deadline to Sept. 30, compressing a planned eight-and-a-half month period for collecting and processing data into just four-and-a-half months, the LA city attorney's office said.
"From political representation to crucial public funding, every L.A. resident has so much riding on a full, fair and complete count," Feur said in a statement. "The administration's abrupt, inexplicable and unlawful reversal would harm Angelenos for the next decade. It must not stand."
Los Angeles joins the cities of Salinas, San Jose, Harris County in Texas, King County in Washington, National Urban League, League of Women Voters, and Black Alliance for Just Immigration in filing the lawsuit. It alleges that the attempt to rush the census threatens all vital functions that rely on census data and violates the Enumeration Clause and Administrative Procedure Act.
The lawsuit will be Los Angeles's third against the Trump Administration over the census. Feuer's office also joined in lawsuits over the administration's efforts to block non-citizens from responding to the census.
