State attorneys general: No citizenship question on census

A coalition of state attorneys general is urging the U.S. Department of Commerce to not add a question about citizenship to the 2020 census, saying it could lower participation among immigrants and cause a population undercount.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra led a letter sent on Monday to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

The letter says adding the question “would fatally undermine the accuracy” of the 2020 count.

They were joined by Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper also signed on.

There was no immediate comment from the Commerce Department.