The President announced today there will officially not be a citizenship question on the 2020 census, but with a new executive order in place immediately - he said the government will still find out the information it needs.
The President has issued an executive order that forces government agencies to provide records that could determine the number of citizens and non-citizens throughout the country.
“I am hereby ordering every department and agency in the federal government to provide the Department of Commerce with all requested records regarding the number of citizens and non-citizens in our country,” Trump said in a press conference Thursday.
The President said the executive order is a better way than the census to ensure an accurate count of the non-citizen population and that the measure is necessary regarding public policy decisions.
“Knowing this information is vital to formulating sound public policy, whether the issue is health care, education, civil rights, or immigration,” he said.
Lawmakers here in Connecticut are speaking out on the President’s decision.
Attorney General William Tong released the following statement:
“From the start, the citizenship question has been a key part of the administration's campaign to undercount immigrants and undercut their voting power, and represents a direct attack on Connecticut and the people of our state.”
Senator Blumenthal has also released a statement:
“Today’s retreat sends a message loud and clear: our fight to protect the census has prevailed. President Trump may have backed down from this doomed census strategy, but he isn’t backing away from other flagrant fear tactics.”
The President said every department and agency in the federal government will now have to turn in all legal records immediately.