Illinois Among 12 States Suing Trump Over Citizenship Question

SPRINGFIELD, IL — Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is part of a multi-state fight against the Trump administration's decision to place a citizenship question on the 2020 Census. Madigan and her counterpart in California, Xavier Becerra, are filing lawsuits in an attempt to block the question.

New York's Eric Schneiderman is also preparing a lawsuit, and a spokesperson for Madigan told Crain's that she intends to participate in the action.

"The census is a fundamental part of our democracy," Madigan said in a statement. "We must encourage every person in our country to participate, instead of putting up barriers to prevent people from being counted. I will take legal action to protect immigrant communities in Illinois and ensure they are represented fairly and accurately."

According to WQAD, Illinois is one of a dozen states planning to sue the Trump administration over the census question.

The citizenship question was announced by U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Monday. In a letter, Ross said the U.S. Department of Justice asked that a citizenship question be reinstated in December.

"The (Department of Commerce's) review demonstrated that collection of citizenship data by the Census has beena long-standing historical practice," Ross said in the letter. "Prior decennial census surveys of the entire United Statespopulation consistently asked citizenship questions up until 1950, and Census Bureau surveys of sample populations continue to ask citizenship questions to this day."

Madigan announced in September that she will not be seeking re-election in 2018. Last week, Sen. Kwame Raoul won the Democratic primary and Erika Harold emerged victorious in the Republican primary, earning spots on the November ballot to face off for Madigan's seat.

Image: Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan/Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images