Supreme Court blocks 2020 census citizenship question for now, handing Trump administration a major defeat

The Supreme Court temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s plan to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census Thursday, giving opponents new hope of defeating it.

The ruling by Chief Justice John Roberts questioned the rationale for the administration’s effort, just as challenging states and immigrant rights groups have done.

“The evidence tells a story that does not match the explanation (Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross) gave for his decision,” Roberts wrote. “The sole stated reason seems to have been contrived.”

In a complex decision with several dissents and concurrences, the court’s four liberal justices said they would have struck down the citizenship question outright, while the court’s four other conservative justices said it should have been upheld.

The court’s decision doesn’t end the dispute. A separate challenge to the administration’s motive for asking the citizenship question remains alive in another federal district court. That inquiry could drag on for much of the summer, jeopardizing the timetable for printing the census questionnaire.

More From USAToday(subscription required):