The city of Phoenix, Arizona is joining multiple cities and states in a lawsuit to prevent the Trump administration from including a citizenship question on the 2020 Census.
Last week, The members of the City Council approved a measure allowing Phoenix to participate in the lawsuit. Seven council members supported the measure and two voted against it.
The seven council members believe that the citizenship question could lead to an undercount. As a result, Phoenix will lose hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding.
Citizenship question poses serious consequences
In a statement, Councilman Daniel Valenzuela said the decision of the U.S. Department of Commerce to include the citizenship question on the 2020 Census “poses serious consequences for Phoenix.”
“Our city stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding from an undercount. I believe it is appropriate for the City Council to publicly vote on the issue of whether to pursue litigation against the federal government,” he said.
