The administration had argued that there should be no trial in the legal challenge brought by 18 states to the citizenship question until the justices rule on a fight over evidence. An indefinite postponement of the trial, as sought by the administration, could have made it impossible to resolve the dispute before census forms are printed starting next year. In March, New York led a coalition of Democratic states in a lawsuit against the Trump administration over a decision to include the citizenship question on the 2020 census. New York to lead states in suing over citizenship question on census Read moreThe census is carried out every 10 years and helps to determine political representation in Congress, federal funding of programs and other matters. In February, a coalition of state attorneys general had urged the commerce department not to add such a question, saying it could lower participation among immigrants and cause a population undercount.

Source: The Guardian November 02, 2018 22:07 UTC