USJudge in census case: New evidence alleging political motivation behind citizenship question 'raises a substantial issue'

© Shutterstock The Census Bureau will make its online questionnaires and phone interviews available in 13 languages during the 2020 Census.

In a blow to the Trump administration, a federal trial judge said Wednesday that he believes new evidence presented in a challenge to the 2020 census citizenship question "raises a substantial issue."

The decision could lead to reopening one of three federal trials into the citizenship question and lead to further examinations of Republican redistricting consultant Thomas Hofeller's role in developing the question.

The fight over the 2020 census citizenship question, explained

The battle over a simple question involves both Congress and the Supreme Court. And the stakes are high.

Supreme Court blocks 2020 census citizenship question in setback for Trump admin. A federal trial judge earlier this month said he believes new evidence presented " raises a substantial issue ." Opponents of the citizen question allege Hofeller ghostwrote part of a Justice Department draft letter

New evidence about a Republican strategist's role in adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census is putting increased pressure on the The justices are weighing whether the controversial question should be allowed on the census after opponents filed lawsuits arguing it would lead to an

Earlier this month, the ACLU and a team of lawyers at Arnold & Porter said that they had obtained a trove of documents from Hofeller, a deceased Republican redistricting expert who, they allege, played a significant role in the decision to add the question. Hofeller wrote a study in 2015 concluding that using "citizen voting age" population as the redistricting population base would be "advantageous to Republicans and Non-Hispanic Whites."

The administration has always denied political motivation, saying instead that the Justice Department had determined that the question was necessary to better comply with federal voting rights law.

Judge George Hazel of the US District Court in Maryland disagreed with the government's arguments that Hofeller's files were "not material and it would not produce a new outcome."

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A federal judge in New York has issued the first ruling out of multiple lawsuits over a question about U.S. citizenship status. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who oversees the Census Bureau, approved adding a question about U.S. citizenship status to the 2020 census .

They say the citizenship question is actually a central element of a Republican strategy to try to The justices sent the case back to a lower court. The majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John G Federal judges in each of the three lawsuits opposing the addition of the citizenship question had

His order allows the groups suing the government -- alleging the question was developed with discriminatory intent and amounted to an illegal conspiracy -- to ask an appeals court to remand the case to his lower court.

The original Maryland trial, like those in New York and California, resulted in orders blocking the question from appearing on the census.

But the judge in Maryland ruled the plaintiffs had not proved that the government acted with discriminatory intent when in adding the question. Like in the other trials, Hazel said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross' motives were unclear.

Plaintiffs believe the new evidence could sway that aspect in their favor.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on two other cases challenging the citizenship question. Plaintiffs in the Maryland case note that their case brings up issues that were not discussed in the cases heard in New York or California, and believe their challenge may proceed separately from matters before the Supreme Court.